Wealth Alliance Boosts Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in PPL were worth $536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 171,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,050,000 after acquiring an additional 9,905 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter worth $2,412,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,390,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,048,000 after buying an additional 1,695,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of PPL by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,498,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,303,000 after buying an additional 178,898 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $26.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $19.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $29.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.11.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. PPL had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 8.45%. PPL’s revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 103.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

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.