PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Stock Position Raised by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 631,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,470 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $20,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 195.5% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in PPL in the second quarter worth $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in PPL during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in PPL during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

PPL Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of PPL opened at $34.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.51. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $25.35 and a 52 week high of $34.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.96%.

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.