Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1,988.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,971 shares during the quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PPL. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 59,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,632,000 after purchasing an additional 2,342 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PPL by 17.6% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 52,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,459,000 after acquiring an additional 7,941 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in shares of PPL by 18.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156 shares in the last quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the first quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in PPL by 3.2% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 184,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on PPL in a report on Friday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.40.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL traded up $0.22 during trading on Monday, hitting $32.65. 503,746 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,784,675. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $24.10 and a 1-year high of $33.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.82.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. PPL’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. PPL’s payout ratio is 90.35%.

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.