DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 1,657 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale decreased its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 46,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,657 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in PPL were worth $1,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in PPL by 91.3% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,820 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 71.3% in the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792,200 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 50.3% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572,771 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. acquired a new position in PPL in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,713,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,217,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $116,105,000 after buying an additional 755,689 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays increased their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.40.

PPL Stock Down 3.1 %

NYSE PPL opened at $31.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.82. PPL Co. has a one year low of $24.78 and a one year high of $33.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.01. 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 (NYSE:PPL) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. PPL’s payout ratio is 90.35%.

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.