PPL Corporation $PPL Shares Newly Acquired by Factory Mutual Insurance Co.

Key Points

• Factory Mutual Insurance Co. acquired 346,000 PPL shares in the third quarter, valued at about $11.38 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of PPL’s stock.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $40.06; recent targets include $44 from Jefferies, down from $48.
• PPL reported quarterly earnings of $0.33 per share, slightly below estimates, while revenue rose 4.2% year over year. The company’s annualized dividend is $1.14 per share, a yield of about 3.2%.

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. bought a new stake in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 346,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,380,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 7,190 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the third quarter worth $6,283,000. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 30.8% in the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 34,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 8,241 shares in the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 5.5% in the third quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,878 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intrua Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 12.7% during the third quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 6,436 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on PPL from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of PPL in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $41.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of PPL from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of PPL from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.06.

Insider Activity at PPL

In related news, EVP Wendy Stark sold 5,406 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.11, for a total transaction of $189,804.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 99,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,483,614.20. This represents a 5.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $35.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. PPL Corporation has a 52-week low of $31.56 and a 52-week high of $40.10. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $34.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.07.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its 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). PPL had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2850 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. PPL's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.46%.

PPL 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, operates electric distribution and transmission systems, and provides related energy services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers.

PPL's principal businesses include PPL Electric Utilities in Pennsylvania, Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities in Kentucky, and Rhode Island Energy in Rhode Island.

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