Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,532,239 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 258,918 shares during the quarter. PPL makes up approximately 1.6% of Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.83% of PPL worth $488,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased 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 worth $1,008,861,000 after buying an additional 472,979 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased 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 worth $471,756,000 after buying an additional 3,544,282 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased 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 worth $411,347,000 after buying an additional 1,371,000 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in PPL by 0.3% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,598,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $310,503,000 after buying an additional 28,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased 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 worth $288,815,000 after buying an additional 109,160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. Wall Street Zen raised PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $36.70.
View Our Latest Analysis on PPL
Insider Buying and Selling at PPL
In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total value of $77,636.90. Following the sale, the chief operating officer 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.
PPL Price Performance
NYSE:PPL traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $36.55. 4,134,700 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,397,398. The company has a market capitalization of $27.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.64. PPL Corporation has a 1-year low of $31.22 and a 1-year high of $37.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $35.32 and a 200 day moving average of $35.00.
PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.05). The company 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. PPL has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.870 EPS. Research analysts forecast that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.
PPL Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.34%.
About PPL
(
Free Report)
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.
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