Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Has $313,000 Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Leelyn Smith LLC grew its position in PPL by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 79,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,209,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 15.7% during the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 2,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 3.4% during the second quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 11,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. increased its holdings in PPL by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 77,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,134,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 46.7% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PPL shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price 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 shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.75.

PPL Stock Up 0.5 %

PPL opened at $32.74 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.15 billion, a PE ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.08 and a 200 day moving average of $28.99. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $33.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.