J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Buys New Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 7,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in PPL during the second quarter worth $29,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in PPL during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in PPL in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL opened at $32.56 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 company has a market capitalization of $24.02 billion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.97. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $24.24 and a 1 year high of $33.38.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays upped their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.40.

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.