Intech Investment Management LLC Purchases 2,670 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 4.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 65,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,670 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $2,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in PPL by 25.3% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $162,882,000 after buying an additional 1,189,339 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in PPL by 91.3% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,820 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 71.3% during the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792,200 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,935,000 after buying an additional 96,491 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of PPL by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,228,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,808,000 after buying an additional 104,662 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PPL. Bank of America lifted their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

PPL Stock Down 1.1 %

PPL opened at $34.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $32.75 and a 200-day moving average of $30.68. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.35 and a fifty-two week high of $35.00. The company has a market capitalization of $25.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.97%.

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.