Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 47.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,958 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $585,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 13,891.2% during the third 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 last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in PPL by 83.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 13.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,390,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,726 shares during the period. Covalis Capital LLP increased its stake in PPL by 132.7% during the third quarter. Covalis Capital LLP now owns 1,962,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in PPL by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,461,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,268 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $28.52 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.51. The firm has a market cap of $21.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $28.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.28.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. Research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. PPL’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet downgraded PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL 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.