Heartland Bank & Trust Co Makes New $548,000 Investment in PPL Corporation $PPL

Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 15,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PPL. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 4,424,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $154,957,000 after purchasing an additional 88,531 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in PPL by 23.7% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,056,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,762,000 after buying an additional 393,748 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in PPL by 9.3% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,837,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,786,000 after buying an additional 157,005 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in PPL by 2.9% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 355,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,935,000 after buying an additional 10,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in PPL during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,098,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, CFO Ashley F. Johnson sold 34,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total transaction of $772,645.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 561,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,397,522.56. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kristen Robinson sold 37,107 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total transaction of $929,530.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 222,897 shares in the company, valued at $5,583,569.85. The trade was a 14.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Stock Down 2.2%

PPL opened at $34.42 on Friday. PPL Corporation has a one year low of $33.17 and a one year high of $40.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.75.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. PPL had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. Analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut PPL from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on PPL from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Mizuho raised PPL to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Evercore set a $42.00 price objective on shares of PPL in a report on Monday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.33.

About PPL

PPL Corporation is an energy company that owns and operates electric transmission and distribution infrastructure and provides related customer services. The company’s core business centers on delivering electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers through regulated utility operations, maintaining grid reliability, responding to outages and managing customer billing and account services.

PPL’s activities include construction and maintenance of distribution and transmission lines, meter and grid management, and programs to support energy efficiency and the interconnection of distributed resources.