Clearbridge Investments LLC Purchases 1,572,771 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 50.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,572,771 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.64% of PPL worth $129,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PPL. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 28,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 11,199 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 1st quarter worth $31,713,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its stake in PPL by 1.6% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 110,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,029,000 after buying an additional 1,704 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 44,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after buying an additional 13,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 1st quarter worth approximately $636,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PPL. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.36.

PPL Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE PPL traded up $0.40 on Wednesday, hitting $29.17. 3,812,265 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,817,549. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.39 and a 200-day moving average of $27.43. The company has a market cap of $21.52 billion, a PE ratio of 28.43, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $29.89.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The business’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

PPL Company 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.