Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires 53,176 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 338,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,176 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $9,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in PPL during the 4th quarter worth about $570,789,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in PPL during the 4th quarter worth about $115,605,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in PPL during the 4th quarter worth about $108,799,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 437.5% during the 4th quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,530,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 239.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,128,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,789,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208,081 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.18.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $32.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.82. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $32.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.44. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. Analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.