First Horizon Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 55.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PPL were worth $92,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in PPL by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 182,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,304,000 after buying an additional 15,866 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of PPL by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 14,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,674 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 5.7% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 1,138 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of PPL by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 190,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,480,000 after acquiring an additional 27,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in PPL by 1.2% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 255,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. TheStreet downgraded shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.27.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $28.09 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.06 and its 200-day moving average is $26.48. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $28.93. The firm 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.28.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that PPL Co. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

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.