Equitable Trust Co. Makes New Investment in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Equitable Trust Co. bought a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of PPL in the 1st quarter valued at $527,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 27.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 2,111 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 1st quarter valued at $233,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in PPL by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 866,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,848,000 after acquiring an additional 60,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in PPL by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 7,435 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.50.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $33.06 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $24.40 billion, a PE ratio of 29.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $24.93 and a 52-week high of $33.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $32.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.23.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. PPL’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 91.97%.

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.