Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC Buys New Shares in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 17,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $495,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in PPL in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the second quarter worth $38,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in PPL in the 1st quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PPL shares. Bank of America raised their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.18.

PPL Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $32.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.66 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.82. PPL Co. has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $32.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. PPL’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. Research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.