MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Has $6.75 Million Stock Holdings in PPL Corporation $PPL

Key Points

• MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in PPL Corporation by 165.1% during Q1, acquiring an additional 116,385 shares, bringing its total holdings to 186,891 shares valued at approximately $6.75 million.
• PPL Corporation's stock has received mixed analyst ratings, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a target price of $36.70, while some analysts have downgraded the stock.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2725 per share, which will be paid on October 1st, contributing to an annualized yield of 3.0%.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 165.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 186,891 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 116,385 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.'s holdings in PPL were worth $6,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in PPL by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,938,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,008,861,000 after purchasing an additional 472,979 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in PPL by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,062,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $471,756,000 after purchasing an additional 3,544,282 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in PPL by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,598,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $310,503,000 after purchasing an additional 28,589 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in PPL by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,998,199 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $288,815,000 after purchasing an additional 109,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in PPL by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 7,881,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $284,608,000 after purchasing an additional 297,999 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,633,781.60. This trade represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

PPL Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:PPL traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.50. The stock had a trading volume of 5,112,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,502,196. PPL Corporation has a 12 month low of $31.22 and a 12 month high of $37.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $36.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.18. The company has a market cap of $26.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.65.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. PPL's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. PPL has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.870 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of PPL in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen cut PPL from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $36.67.

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.