PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Bought by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,302,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 63,328 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $76,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 46,552 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 7.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 866,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,848,000 after buying an additional 60,589 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised 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 buying an additional 39,513 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $129,433,000 after buying an additional 1,572,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 10.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,067,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,153,000 after buying an additional 188,160 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $33.25 on Wednesday. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.93 and a fifty-two week high of $33.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.68, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. PPL’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. Equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.