PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Stock Position Raised by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 425,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,296 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $14,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Leelyn Smith LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 79,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,209,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in PPL by 15.7% in the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 2,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 3.4% during the second quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 11,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 3.1% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in PPL by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $32.56 on Thursday. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $24.93 and a twelve month high of $33.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.16. The company has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.07, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.96%.

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.