PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Acquired by Quest Partners LLC

Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 721,690.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 144,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 144,338 shares during the quarter. PPL comprises 0.4% of Quest Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $4,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 8.7% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 496,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,719,000 after buying an additional 39,513 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 50.3% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572,771 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,067,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,153,000 after acquiring an additional 188,160 shares in the last quarter. Sagefield Capital LP boosted its stake in PPL by 70.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 138,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,839,000 after purchasing an additional 57,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in PPL by 49.8% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 125,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,460,000 after purchasing an additional 41,609 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.50.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $33.70 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.46. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $25.35 and a 12 month high of $33.75. The company has a market cap of $24.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.09, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. PPL’s payout ratio is 91.97%.

PPL Company Profile

PPL Corporation, an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.6 million customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Kentucky Regulated, Pennsylvania Regulated, and Rhode Island Regulated. The company delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and Rhode Island; delivers natural gas to customers in Kentucky and Rhode Island; and generates electricity from power plants in Kentucky.