Quantitative Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 22,339 PPL Corporation $PPL

Key Points

• Quantitative Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in PPL Corporation, purchasing 22,339 shares valued at approximately $806,000 in the first quarter.
• PPL's recent earnings report revealed a missed estimate, with earnings per share of $0.32 compared to the consensus estimate of $0.37, while revenue increased by 7.7% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2725, reflecting a dividend yield of 3.0% and a payout ratio of 81.34%.

Quantitative Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 22,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $806,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 1.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,938,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,008,861,000 after acquiring an additional 472,979 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 37.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,062,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $471,756,000 after acquiring an additional 3,544,282 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,672,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $411,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371,000 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,598,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $310,503,000 after acquiring an additional 28,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 1.4% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,998,199 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $288,815,000 after acquiring an additional 109,160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PPL. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $36.70.

PPL Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of PPL traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $36.54. 4,390,461 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,614,867. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.02. PPL Corporation has a twelve month low of $31.22 and a twelve month high of $37.38. The stock has a market cap of $27.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). PPL had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 8.81%. 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 business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. PPL has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.870 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.34%.

PPL Company Profile

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.