Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Grows Stock Position in PPL Corporation $PPL

Key Points

• Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its stake in PPL Corporation by 2.7%, acquiring 12,115 additional shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 453,061 shares valued at $16.36 million.
• PPL's recent earnings report showed earnings per share of $0.32, falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.37, despite revenues exceeding forecasts at $2.03 billion.
• Institutional investors currently own 76.99% of PPL's stock, indicating significant investor interest, while analysts maintain an average rating of "Buy" for the stock.

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. boosted its stake in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 453,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 12,115 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. owned 0.06% of PPL worth $16,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in PPL by 17.5% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 79,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,824,000 after purchasing an additional 11,782 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in PPL by 9.2% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,975,310 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $107,438,000 after purchasing an additional 250,564 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in PPL by 45.0% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 30,603 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 9,503 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in PPL by 13.7% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 9,748 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the 1st quarter valued at $992,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Guggenheim upped their target price on 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 target price on PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $36.70.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock traded down $0.3950 during trading on Monday, hitting $36.5050. The stock had a trading volume of 665,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,616,219. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $31.22 and a twelve month high of $37.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64. The company's 50-day moving average price is $35.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.98.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.05). PPL had a return on equity of 8.81% and a net margin of 11.22%.The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. PPL has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.870 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. PPL's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,633,781.60. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.