MQS Management LLC Increases Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

MQS Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 83.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,739 shares during the quarter. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $115,605,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of PPL by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 10,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in PPL by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,333,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,242,000 after purchasing an additional 85,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on PPL in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.75.

PPL Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of PPL opened at $31.79 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.84. The company has a market cap of $23.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $32.82.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. PPL’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 year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.