Stewardship Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Stewardship Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 14,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in PPL in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in PPL in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in PPL during the second quarter worth $38,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in PPL in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in PPL in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.22.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $32.83. 2,371,764 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,839,961. The company’s 50-day moving average is $32.08 and its 200 day moving average is $29.66. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $23.36 and a 52 week high of $33.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.35%.

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.