Swiss National Bank Decreases Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Swiss National Bank reduced its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,304,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 65,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.31% of PPL worth $62,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of PPL by 179.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PPL. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America lifted their price target on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.27.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $28.09 on Monday. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $28.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $20.72 billion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.45.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.