nVerses Capital LLC Invests $1.10 Million in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 33,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,102,000. PPL accounts for approximately 0.5% of nVerses Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of PPL by 91.3% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,977,000 after buying an additional 2,778,820 shares during the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted 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 valued at $119,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792,200 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted 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 valued at $129,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572,771 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PPL during the first quarter valued at about $31,713,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 21.8% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,217,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $116,105,000 after purchasing an additional 755,689 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PPL. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.56.

PPL Trading Down 0.3 %

PPL stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, hitting $32.51. The company had a trading volume of 365,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,850,015. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.58. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $23.36 and a 52-week high of $33.38.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.