Grandview Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Grandview Asset Management LLC increased its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 4.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 203,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,308 shares during the quarter. PPL makes up approximately 5.2% of Grandview Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Grandview Asset Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $5,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in PPL by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 60,166,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,672,037,000 after purchasing an additional 195,849 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in PPL by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,759,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,229,596,000 after buying an additional 1,971,238 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in PPL by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,900,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $466,642,000 after buying an additional 373,725 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in PPL by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,015,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $361,701,000 after buying an additional 129,373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in PPL by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,884,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $367,969,000 after buying an additional 775,294 shares in the last quarter. 73.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PPL. Guggenheim cut their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on PPL in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays assumed coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.14.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $25.72. 1,579,270 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,131,377. The company has a market capitalization of $18.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.79. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $23.47 and a 52-week high of $31.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.90.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 7.75% and a net margin of 8.79%. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 8th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.31%.

PPL Profile

PPL Corporation, an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.5 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.