International Assets Investment Management LLC Has $4.20 Million Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 2,647.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 149,442 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $4,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 43,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after buying an additional 3,814 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. RKL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $277,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of PPL by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 52,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,403,000 after buying an additional 10,405 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in PPL by 179.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPL Trading Up 0.6 %

PPL opened at $28.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $21.04 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.10 and a 200-day moving average of $26.51. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $28.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PPL shares. Mizuho raised their target price on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. TheStreet cut shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Argus upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.27.

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.