First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Increases Stock Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in PPL were worth $309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 171,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,050,000 after purchasing an additional 9,905 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in PPL in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,412,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,390,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in PPL by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,498,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,303,000 after acquiring an additional 178,898 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPL Trading Up 0.9 %

PPL opened at $28.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.92 billion, a PE ratio of 27.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.08. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $28.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.51.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.27.

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.