Stephens Inc. AR Has $561,000 Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Stephens Inc. AR cut its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,138 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in PPL were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PPL. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 195.5% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

PPL Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $32.56 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.07, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.93 and a fifty-two week high of $33.38.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 91.96%.

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.