PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Bought by Prospera Private Wealth LLC

Prospera Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of PPL. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189,339 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 5,390.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 563,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,625,000 after acquiring an additional 552,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yaupon Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 83.1% during the 1st quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 1,139,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,373,000 after acquiring an additional 517,300 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on PPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.27 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $32.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07. PPL Co. has a one year low of $25.35 and a one year high of $34.31. The company has a market capitalization of $25.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.81.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. 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.