MQS Management LLC Acquires 7,739 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

MQS Management LLC grew its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 83.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,739 shares during the quarter. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in PPL by 31.4% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 12,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 2,982 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 81,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,258,000 after acquiring an additional 7,921 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 48,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance boosted its position in PPL by 9.4% during the second quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 24,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in PPL in the second quarter valued at about $291,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PPL. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on PPL in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.75.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $31.79 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $30.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.84. The company has a market capitalization of $23.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.82. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $32.82. 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 posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.