PPL Corporation $PPL Shares Acquired by California State Teachers Retirement System

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its PPL stake by 3,584.3% in the second quarter, acquiring 30.9 million additional shares and bringing its ownership to approximately 4.22%, valued at $1.15 billion. Institutional investors collectively own 76.99% of PPL.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 10 Buy ratings and three Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $41, despite several recent target-price reductions.
• PPL reported quarterly EPS of $0.33, slightly below estimates, while revenue rose 4.2% year over year to $2.11 billion. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.285, equivalent to a 3.3% annualized yield.

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 3,584.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 31,773,717 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,911,313 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 4.22% of PPL worth $1,154,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 494.5% in the 2nd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 862 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 206.7% in the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,291 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 3,012 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of PPL from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of PPL from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of PPL from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore set a $42.00 target price on shares of PPL in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.00.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $34.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.91. PPL Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.17 and a 1 year high of $40.10. The firm has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.56.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 13.47%.The business's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kristen Robinson sold 37,107 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 14.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ashley Johnson sold 34,993 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total value of $772,645.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 561,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,397,522.56. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPL Company Profile

PPL Corporation NYSE: PPL is an energy and utility holding company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, the company delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers, while also operating and maintaining generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure.

PPL's Pennsylvania operations are conducted through PPL Electric Utilities, which provides electric delivery service across much of central and eastern Pennsylvania.

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