Elevated Capital Advisors LLC Invests $628,000 in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 22,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $628,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in PPL in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in PPL in the second quarter worth $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in PPL by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in PPL in the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PPL. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America increased their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.18.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $31.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.98, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $32.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.11.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

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.