Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 95,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,732 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at $339,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 5,334 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,777,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in PPL by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 741,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,500,000 after purchasing an additional 26,228 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 401,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,871,000 after purchasing an additional 9,102 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.18.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $32.46 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.45 and a 200 day moving average of $28.67. The company has a market capitalization of $23.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.82. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $32.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.