PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Purchased by Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,338 shares during the quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $162,882,000 after buying an additional 1,189,339 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in PPL by 91.3% in 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 buying an additional 2,778,820 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC grew 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 buying an additional 1,792,200 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in PPL by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,228,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,808,000 after buying an additional 104,662 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in PPL by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,571,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,098,000 after buying an additional 202,296 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $32.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.35 and a 200-day moving average of $30.14. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $24.93 and a 52 week high of $33.38.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. On average, analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.97%.

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.