Belpointe Asset Management LLC Takes Position in PPL Corporation $PPL

Key Points

• Belpointe Asset Management LLC invested $540,000 in PPL Corporation by acquiring 14,961 shares in the first quarter of 2023.
• PPL Corporation reported earnings of $0.32 per share, falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.37, despite a revenue increase of 7.7% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2725 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend yield of 3.0%.

Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 79,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,824,000 after acquiring an additional 11,782 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in PPL by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,975,310 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $107,438,000 after purchasing an additional 250,564 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of PPL by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 30,603 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 9,503 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of PPL by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 9,748 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the 1st quarter valued at about $992,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.67.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total transaction of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,633,781.60. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE PPL traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $35.59. The company had a trading volume of 3,795,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,213,472. PPL Corporation has a 52-week low of $31.22 and a 52-week high of $37.38. The stock has a market cap of $26.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.18.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.05). PPL had a return on equity of 8.81% and a net margin of 11.22%.The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. PPL has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.870 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. PPL's payout ratio is currently 81.34%.

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.