Sagefield Capital LP Increases Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Sagefield Capital LP boosted its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 70.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 57,569 shares during the period. Sagefield Capital LP’s holdings in PPL were worth $3,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of PPL by 3.4% during 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 during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of PPL by 49.8% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 125,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,460,000 after buying an additional 41,609 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 10,417.3% during the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 10,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 10,834 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 10.0% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 107,111 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,962,000 after buying an additional 9,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 48.1% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 40,737 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 13,228 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $32.84 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.82. PPL Co. has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $32.92. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.95. 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 earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.75.

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.