Jennison Associates LLC Acquires 755,689 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 21.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,217,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 755,689 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.57% of PPL worth $116,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth approximately $570,789,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter worth $115,605,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at about $108,799,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 437.5% in the fourth quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $132,530,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 239.8% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,128,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,789,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208,081 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PPL Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL traded down $0.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $27.40. The company had a trading volume of 3,990,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,854,598. The stock has a market cap of $20.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.34. PPL Co. has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $29.89.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. PPL’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were given a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on PPL from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.36.

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.