Korea Investment CORP Makes New Investment in PPL Corporation $PPL

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP acquired 746,473 PPL shares worth approximately $27.1 million, giving it a 0.10% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 76.99% of PPL.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 10 Buy ratings and three Holds, an overall “Moderate Buy” consensus, and an average price target of $41.33 versus the stock’s $34.42 opening price.
• PPL slightly missed quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $0.33 EPS and $2.11 billion in revenue, but revenue increased 4.2% year over year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.285 per share, representing a 3.3% annualized yield.

Korea Investment CORP bought a new stake in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 746,473 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $27,134,000. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.10% of PPL as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 39.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,166 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 5,428 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in PPL by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 62,375 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,252,000 after buying an additional 18,057 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in PPL by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 26,861 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $971,000 after buying an additional 3,084 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in PPL by 64.9% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC raised 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 buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on PPL from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on PPL from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Evercore set a $42.00 price target on shares of PPL in a research note on Monday, August 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of PPL from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.33.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $34.42 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $35.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.75. 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 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 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 13.47%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that PPL Corporation will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. PPL's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.46%.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other news, Director Kristen Robinson sold 37,107 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total value of $929,530.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 222,897 shares in the company, valued at $5,583,569.85. The trade was a 14.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Ashley F. Johnson sold 34,993 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total transaction of $772,645.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 561,482 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,397,522.56. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company 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.

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