B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Buys Shares of 15,894 PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 15,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $526,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PPL. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 25.3% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,882,000 after buying an additional 1,189,339 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in PPL by 91.3% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,977,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778,820 shares during the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792,200 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in PPL by 3.4% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,228,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,808,000 after purchasing an additional 104,662 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in PPL by 8.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,571,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,098,000 after purchasing an additional 202,296 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $34.45 on Monday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $32.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.68. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $25.35 and a 1-year high of $35.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.42 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 91.97%.

PPL 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.