Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Purchases New Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 6,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $169,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in PPL in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter worth $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the first quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PPL. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.18.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $31.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.35 and a 200-day moving average of $28.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.91. PPL Co. has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $32.54.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.