Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 154,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,139 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $4,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 179.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TheStreet cut PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com downgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Argus upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.50.

PPL Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of PPL opened at $26.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a PE ratio of 26.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.76 and its 200 day moving average is $26.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.88. PPL Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $29.03.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. PPL had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 8.45%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.00%.

PPL Company 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.