PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) is Electron Capital Partners LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 437.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,980,626 shares during the quarter. PPL makes up approximately 5.6% of Electron Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Electron Capital Partners LLC owned 0.66% of PPL worth $132,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 13,891.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,724,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $276,229,000 after purchasing an additional 11,640,696 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth about $115,605,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth about $108,799,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 239.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,128,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208,081 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 83.5% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,269,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $115,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,282 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.45.

PPL Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of PPL traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,721,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,370,889. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.19. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $29.89. The company has a market cap of $20.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.