International Assets Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3,322.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 212,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 206,216 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $6,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PPL. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in 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 worth $24,590,000 after purchasing an additional 46,552 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 7.5% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 866,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,848,000 after buying an additional 60,589 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 8.7% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 496,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,719,000 after buying an additional 39,513 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 52.1% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 154,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,197,000 after buying an additional 52,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 50.3% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,433,000 after buying an additional 1,572,771 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.40.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL opened at $32.56 on Friday. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.24 and a fifty-two week high of $33.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.33 and a 200 day moving average of $29.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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 during 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 period last year, the company posted $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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued 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 3.16%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.35%.

About PPL

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.