69,899 Shares in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Acquired by Portfolio Design Labs LLC

Portfolio Design Labs LLC purchased a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 69,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,312,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PPL. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in PPL by 91.3% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,820 shares in the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 71.3% in the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,061,000 after buying an additional 1,792,200 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189,339 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in PPL by 5,390.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 563,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,625,000 after acquiring an additional 552,760 shares during the period. Finally, Yaupon Capital Management LP grew its position in PPL by 83.1% in the 1st quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 1,139,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,373,000 after acquiring an additional 517,300 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.14 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.55. The company has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.35 and a 1 year high of $34.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 91.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About PPL

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.