Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 8.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,571,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 202,296 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in PPL were worth $71,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Leelyn Smith LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 0.4% in the second quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 79,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,209,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in PPL by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 2,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in PPL by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 11,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. boosted its stake in PPL by 0.5% in 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 during the period. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management grew its holdings in PPL by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.75.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $32.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $31.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.01. PPL Co. has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $33.01. The stock has a market cap of $24.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.82. 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 quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 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.