Zimmer Partners LP Buys New Holdings in PPL Corporation $PPL

Key Points

• Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in PPL Corporation, purchasing 100,000 shares valued at approximately $3.61 million in the first quarter.
• PPL Corporation reported a quarterly EPS of $0.32, missing the consensus estimate by $0.05, but revenue increased by 7.7% year-over-year, reaching $2.03 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2725 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 3.1%, with a payout ratio of 81.34%.

Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 100,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,611,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 141.0% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 94.3% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 818 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 8,350.0% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 5,352.9% in the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 927 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PPL. Wall Street Zen lowered PPL from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays raised PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $36.70.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPL traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.17. The company had a trading volume of 2,841,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,876,618. PPL Corporation has a twelve month low of $31.22 and a twelve month 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 stock has a market cap of $26.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.65. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $36.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.17.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. PPL has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.870 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at PPL

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total value of $77,636.90. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company 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.