PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Shares Purchased by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 44.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,461,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,066,268 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.47% of PPL worth $93,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 13,891.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,724,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,229,000 after buying an additional 11,640,696 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 13.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,390,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,726 shares during the period. Covalis Capital LLP increased its position in PPL by 132.7% during the third quarter. Covalis Capital LLP now owns 1,962,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118,978 shares during the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in PPL during the third quarter worth approximately $21,434,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in PPL by 60.8% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,326,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,810,000 after purchasing an additional 879,588 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $27.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $29.03.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 8.90%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on PPL. Barclays upped their price objective on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. TheStreet cut PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.50.

PPL 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.