Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Acquires Shares of 11,400 PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 11,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 195.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

PPL Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:PPL opened at $34.45 on Monday. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $25.35 and a twelve month high of $35.00. The company has a market cap of $25.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.