Procyon Advisors LLC Buys 678 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Procyon Advisors LLC increased its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 4.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 5.6% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in PPL by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 866,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,848,000 after purchasing an additional 60,589 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in 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 valued at $13,719,000 after purchasing an additional 39,513 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in PPL by 52.1% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 154,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,197,000 after purchasing an additional 52,870 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 50.3% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $32.36 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $23.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $31.96 and its 200 day moving average is $29.56. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $23.36 and a twelve month high of $33.38.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.56.

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.