SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 42.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 159,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,317 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $5,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased 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 valued at $24,590,000 after buying an additional 46,552 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position 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 valued at $23,848,000 after purchasing an additional 60,589 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position 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 valued at $13,719,000 after purchasing an additional 39,513 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position 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 valued at $4,197,000 after purchasing an additional 52,870 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position 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 valued at $129,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572,771 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PPL currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.80.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $32.55 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.31. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $22.35 and a 1-year high of $33.38.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. PPL’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. Analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

PPL Company 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.