Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes $8.47 Million Position in PPL Corporation $PPL

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired 232,984 PPL shares worth approximately $8.47 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 76.99% of the utility company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 10 Buy ratings and three Holds, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $41 versus the stock’s $34.19 opening price.
• PPL reported quarterly EPS of $0.33, slightly below the $0.34 consensus, while revenue rose 4.2% year over year to $2.11 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.285, representing a 3.3% annualized yield.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 232,984 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,469,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL in the second quarter worth about $1,893,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,651,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,111,000. Korea Investment CORP acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,134,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in PPL in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,328,000. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut PPL from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on PPL from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on PPL from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Evercore set a $42.00 price objective on PPL in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PPL from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.00.

PPL Stock Down 0.0%

PPL stock opened at $34.19 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $35.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.57. PPL Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.17 and a fifty-two week high of $40.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). PPL had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 13.47%.The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. PPL'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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. PPL's payout ratio is currently 67.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, CFO Ashley F. Johnson sold 34,993 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kristen Robinson sold 37,107 shares of the business'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 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

PPL Company Profile

PPL Corporation is an energy company that owns and operates electric transmission and distribution infrastructure and provides related customer services. The company's core business centers on delivering electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers through regulated utility operations, maintaining grid reliability, responding to outages and managing customer billing and account services.

PPL's activities include construction and maintenance of distribution and transmission lines, meter and grid management, and programs to support energy efficiency and the interconnection of distributed resources.

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