Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 21,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $719,000.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted 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 worth $13,719,000 after buying an additional 39,513 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted 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 worth $129,433,000 after buying an additional 1,572,771 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. Sagefield Capital LP lifted its position in shares of PPL by 70.8% in the second quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 138,859 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,839,000 after buying an additional 57,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of PPL by 49.8% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 125,153 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,460,000 after buying an additional 41,609 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.
Shares of PPL opened at $33.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $32.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $25.35 and a 12-month high of $33.75.
PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL's payout ratio is 91.97%.
A number of analysts have weighed in on PPL shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.50.
Check Out Our Latest Report on 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.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
Before you consider PPL, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and PPL wasn't on the list.
While PPL currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.