Bayesian Capital Management LP Makes New $741,000 Investment in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 26,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $741,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in PPL by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 884,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,590,000 after buying an additional 46,552 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 866,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,848,000 after buying an additional 60,589 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 86,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after buying an additional 4,416 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 52.1% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 154,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,197,000 after buying an additional 52,870 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, April 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.36.

PPL Stock Up 1.1 %

PPL traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.98. The company had a trading volume of 4,594,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,802,645. PPL Co. has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $30.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $22.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.48.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

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.