PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Stake Lifted by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 162,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,534 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in PPL were worth $5,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of PPL by 0.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after buying an additional 55,594 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in PPL by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189,339 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in PPL by 91.3% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,977,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778,820 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 0.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,766,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,689,000 after purchasing an additional 35,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 71.3% during the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792,200 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value of $314,680.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.44 on Tuesday. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $25.35 and a 52-week high of $35.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.88.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.