Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 21,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $719,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 8.7% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 496,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,719,000 after buying an additional 39,513 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 50.3% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,433,000 after buying an additional 1,572,771 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 10.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,067,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,153,000 after buying an additional 188,160 shares during the last quarter. Sagefield Capital LP lifted its position in shares of PPL by 70.8% in the second quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 138,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,839,000 after buying an additional 57,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of PPL by 49.8% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 125,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,460,000 after buying an additional 41,609 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of PPL opened at $33.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.81. PPL Co. has a 12-month low of $25.35 and a 12-month high of $33.75.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is 91.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on PPL shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

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.