Royal Fund Management LLC Acquires 2,032 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,032 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in PPL by 13,891.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,724,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $276,229,000 after acquiring an additional 11,640,696 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 83.5% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,269,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $115,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,282 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,390,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,726 shares during the period. Covalis Capital LLP boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 132.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covalis Capital LLP now owns 1,962,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118,978 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 44.5% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,461,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,268 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:PPL traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.09. 3,810,483 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,444,747. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.00 and a 200 day moving average of $26.39. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $28.93. The company has a market capitalization of $20.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.28.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PPL shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.27.

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.