Banco Santander SA acquires 23,090 shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Banco Santander SA acquired a new stake in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL – Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 23,090 shares of the utility provider’s stock, valued at approximately $636,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of PPL by 260.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 461,134 shares of the utility provider’s stock worth $10,864,000 after purchasing an additional 333,032 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of PPL by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 218,175 shares of the utility provider’s stock worth $5,921,000 after purchasing an additional 3,633 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 15,065 shares of the utility provider’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Changes in analyst ratings

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on PPL from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given it a buy rating. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.36.

Get our latest analysis on PPL

PPL Price Performance

PPL shares fell $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $28.62. 4,314,309 shares of the stock were traded, compared to its average volume of 4,417,775. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.41. PPL Co. has a one-year low of $22.20 and a one-year high of $29.89. The company has a market cap of $21.11 billion, a price/earnings ratio of 27.79, a price/earnings/growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

PPL (NYSE:PPL – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1. The utility provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same period a year ago, the company posted $0.48 EPS. PPL’s ​​revenue decreased 4.6% compared to the same quarter a year ago. Equity analysts have predicted that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575. This represents an annualized dividend of $1.03 and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date for this dividend was Monday, June 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

About PPL

(Free Report)

PPL Corporation, an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.6 million customers in the United States. The company 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 generating facilities in Kentucky.

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