Crewe Advisors LLC Invests $118,000 in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $118,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of PPL by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 10,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPL by 282.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 177,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,813,000 after acquiring an additional 131,152 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of PPL by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 857,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,233,000 after acquiring an additional 142,136 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 11,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 65.1% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 11,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 4,372 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PPL shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.36.

PPL Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of PPL traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $29.22. The stock had a trading volume of 4,525,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,815,868. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $29.89. The firm has a market cap of $21.56 billion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $28.38 and its 200 day moving average is $27.45.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

PPL Company 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.