EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 735 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in shares of PPL by 5.6% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 884,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,590,000 after acquiring an additional 46,552 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in PPL by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 866,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,848,000 after purchasing an additional 60,589 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 496,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,719,000 after purchasing an additional 39,513 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of PPL by 52.1% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 154,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,197,000 after buying an additional 52,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 50.3% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,433,000 after buying an additional 1,572,771 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $32.55 on Friday. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $22.35 and a 52-week high of $33.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $31.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.29. The stock has a market cap of $24.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.82.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PPL. Bank of America lifted their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.55.

PPL 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.