PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Purchased by Royal Fund Management LLC

Royal Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,032 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in PPL by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 171,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,050,000 after buying an additional 9,905 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the third quarter worth $2,412,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 13.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,390,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 13.6% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,498,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,303,000 after purchasing an additional 178,898 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. TheStreet cut PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their target price on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Argus upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.27.

PPL Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE PPL traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.09. 3,810,483 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,444,747. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $28.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.72 billion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $27.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.39.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. 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.