1,032 Shares in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Acquired by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 1,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 91.3% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in PPL by 71.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,792,200 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 50.3% in 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. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the first quarter worth approximately $31,713,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in PPL by 5,390.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 563,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,625,000 after purchasing an additional 552,760 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $33.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.52 billion, a PE ratio of 29.67, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $25.35 and a 1 year high of $33.60. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.36.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 91.96%.

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.