PPL Corporation $PPL Shares Bought by Northern Trust Corp

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in PPL Corporation by 0.3%, owning approximately 8.6 million shares valued at $310.5 million as of the latest report.
• PPL Corporation reported $0.32 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate by $0.05, despite a revenue increase of 7.7% year-over-year.
• The company's stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with targets ranging from $37 to $40, while maintaining an average rating of "Buy."

Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,598,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 28,589 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.16% of PPL worth $310,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in PPL by 1.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,938,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,008,861,000 after buying an additional 472,979 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in PPL by 37.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,062,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $471,756,000 after buying an additional 3,544,282 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in PPL by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $411,347,000 after buying an additional 1,371,000 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in PPL by 1.4% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,998,199 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $288,815,000 after buying an additional 109,160 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in PPL by 0.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,121,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $184,928,000 after buying an additional 31,110 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total transaction of $77,636.90. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,633,781.60. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

PPL Price Performance

PPL traded up $0.1740 on Friday, reaching $36.8940. 3,406,655 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,438,064. The stock has a market cap of $27.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64. PPL Corporation has a twelve month low of $31.22 and a twelve month high of $37.38. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $35.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.81% and a net margin of 11.22%.The business's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. PPL has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.870 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

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