Integrated Investment Consultants LLC Invests $265,000 in PPL Corporation $PPL

Key Points

• Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired 7,341 shares of PPL Corporation valued at approximately $265,000 during the first quarter, marking a new stake in the utilities provider.
• PPL Corporation reported $0.32 EPS for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37, while revenue increased by 7.7% year-over-year to $2.03 billion.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for PPL, with a target price of $36.70, with recent upgrades from various firms including a raise from "sell" to "hold" by Wall Street Zen.

Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,341 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 141.0% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 94.3% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 818 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. HM Payson & Co. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 1,057.6% during the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 984 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AllSquare Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PPL shares. Barclays upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim upped their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $36.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total value of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,633,781.60. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

PPL Trading Up 0.5%

PPL stock traded up $0.1740 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.8940. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,406,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,438,064. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64. PPL Corporation has a 1 year low of $31.22 and a 1 year high of $37.38. 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $35.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.97.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. PPL's payout ratio is 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.