Czech National Bank Boosts Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 150,285 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,702 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in PPL were worth $4,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PPL. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 120.4% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 17,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 9,471 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $473,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its position in PPL by 437.5% in the fourth quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,530,000 after purchasing an additional 3,980,626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at $570,789,000. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on 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 boosted their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.56.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $31.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.82. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $23.36 and a twelve month high of $33.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.42.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. Analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 90.35%.

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.