First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Cuts Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lessened its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,254 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in PPL were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,189,339 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,778,820 shares in the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,792,200 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 104,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 202,296 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Three 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.40.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $31.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $24.78 and a 1 year high of $33.38.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

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

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.