Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Increases Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 238,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,040 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $6,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its stake in PPL by 3.7% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 350,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,501,000 after buying an additional 12,428 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in PPL by 2.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,292,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,480,000 after buying an additional 50,658 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in PPL by 9.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 341,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,779,000 after buying an additional 29,496 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in PPL by 1.2% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 409,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,697,000 after buying an additional 4,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in PPL by 7.7% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 10,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $26.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.73. PPL Co. has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $29.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.80 and a 200 day moving average of $26.11.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 8.90%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. PPL’s revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 103.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Argus upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.50.

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.