JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Stock Holdings in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in PPL Corporation by 42.9% during the 1st quarter, now owning approximately 4.8 million shares valued at $172.6 million.
• PPL Corporation recently reported earnings of $0.32 per share, missing expectations by $0.05, despite a 7.7% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Research firms have varied opinions on PPL, with Barclays upgrading it to a "strong-buy" rating while Morgan Stanley downgraded its price target from $38.00 to $37.00.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 42.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,779,155 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 1,434,778 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.65% of PPL worth $172,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PPL. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at about $70,063,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in PPL by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $411,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371,000 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,261,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 4,095.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 803,375 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,010,000 after purchasing an additional 784,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON purchased a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,453,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at PPL

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on PPL. Barclays upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.70.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $37.12 on Friday. PPL Corporation has a twelve month low of $30.76 and a twelve month high of $37.31. 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 company has a market capitalization of $27.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.83.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.05). PPL had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 8.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. PPL's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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