Amundi Purchases 92,533 Shares of PPL Corporation $PPL

Key Points

• Amundi increased its PPL stake by 16% in the second quarter, purchasing 92,533 additional shares to bring its holdings to 669,395 shares valued at approximately $24.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 76.99% of PPL.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with 10 Buy ratings and three Holds resulting in a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $41, above the reported $34.11 share price.
• PPL reported quarterly EPS of $0.33, slightly below the $0.34 estimate, while revenue rose 4.2% year over year to $2.11 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.285 per share, representing a 3.3% annualized yield.

Amundi lifted its holdings in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 669,395 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 92,533 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.09% of PPL worth $24,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 39.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,166 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 5,428 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in PPL by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 62,375 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,252,000 after buying an additional 18,057 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in shares of PPL by 13.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 26,861 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 3,084 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 64.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its stake in PPL by 6.9% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on PPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on PPL from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded PPL from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of PPL from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of PPL from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.00.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.11 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.56. The stock has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. PPL Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.17 and a 12 month high of $40.10.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 13.47%.The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ashley Johnson sold 34,993 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total value of $772,645.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 561,482 shares in the company, valued at $12,397,522.56. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Robinson sold 37,107 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total value of $929,530.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 222,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,583,569.85. This trade represents a 14.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

PPL Profile

PPL Corporation NYSE: PPL is an energy and utility holding company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, the company delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers, while also operating and maintaining generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure.

PPL's Pennsylvania operations are conducted through PPL Electric Utilities, which provides electric delivery service across much of central and eastern Pennsylvania.

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