Great Lakes Advisors LLC Makes New $1.88 Million Investment in PPL Corporation $PPL

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors initiated a $1.88 million position in PPL, purchasing 51,756 shares during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 76.99% of the utility company.
• PPL reported quarterly earnings of $0.33 per share, slightly below the $0.34 consensus estimate, while revenue of $2.11 billion also fell short of expectations but increased 4.2% year over year.
• PPL declared a quarterly dividend of $0.285 per share, equivalent to a 3.3% annualized yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $41.33, compared with the stock’s reported $34.42 price.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 51,756 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,881,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of PPL by 569.8% during the second quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 35,633 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,295,000 after purchasing an additional 30,313 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 9.3% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,837,296 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $66,786,000 after acquiring an additional 157,005 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in PPL by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,056,733 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,762,000 after purchasing an additional 393,748 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI increased its position in shares of PPL by 256.5% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 35,277 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 25,382 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the 2nd quarter worth $584,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $34.42 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $35.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.91. PPL Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.17 and a 52 week high of $40.10. The firm has a market cap of $25.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.57.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. PPL's payout ratio is currently 67.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on PPL from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of PPL from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on PPL from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of PPL from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.33.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, CFO Ashley F. Johnson sold 34,993 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were 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 approximately $12,397,522.56. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristen Robinson sold 37,107 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total transaction of $929,530.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 222,897 shares in the company, valued at $5,583,569.85. This trade represents a 14.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

PPL Company Profile

PPL Corporation is an energy company that owns and operates electric transmission and distribution infrastructure and provides related customer services. The company's core business centers on delivering electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers through regulated utility operations, maintaining grid reliability, responding to outages and managing customer billing and account services.

PPL's activities include construction and maintenance of distribution and transmission lines, meter and grid management, and programs to support energy efficiency and the interconnection of distributed resources.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source