Sentry Investment Management LLC Acquires New Stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $100,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in PPL by 397.0% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 218,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,232,000 after acquiring an additional 174,638 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.6% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 440,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,575,000 after purchasing an additional 23,279 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of PPL by 17.8% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 254,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,416,000 after purchasing an additional 38,449 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in PPL by 6.5% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 211,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,013,000 after purchasing an additional 12,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 23.9% during the third quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 18,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 3,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on PPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

PPL Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $32.59 on Wednesday. PPL Co. has a 1-year low of $24.93 and a 1-year high of $33.38. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $32.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $24.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.10, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.97%.

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.