RKL Wealth Management LLC Makes New $217,000 Investment in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

RKL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 91.3% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,977,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778,820 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792,200 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 50.3% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572,771 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,713,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 5,390.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 563,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,625,000 after acquiring an additional 552,760 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.50.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $33.06 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.21. The company has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.52, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $24.93 and a 52-week high of $33.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.97%.

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.