Gabelli Funds LLC Acquires 500 Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 578,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 0.08% of PPL worth $15,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $570,789,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of PPL by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,396,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $281,740,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045,852 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its position in shares of PPL by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 8,952,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $242,616,000 after acquiring an additional 340,686 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in PPL by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,678,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $180,992,000 after buying an additional 18,822 shares during the period. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 437.5% during the 4th quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,530,000 after buying an additional 3,980,626 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

PPL Stock Up 0.8 %

PPL traded up $0.22 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.44. 4,653,379 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,244,027. The stock has a market cap of $21.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $29.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.28.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. PPL’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

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.