Jennison Associates LLC Has $93.81 Million Position in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 44.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,461,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,066,268 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $93,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ziegler Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 211,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,980,000 after purchasing an additional 50,081 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 1.1% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 69,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after buying an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its position in PPL by 0.7% in the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 58,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC raised its stake in PPL by 5.4% during the third quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 31,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in PPL during the third quarter worth about $1,142,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $27.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. PPL Co. has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $29.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.84 and its 200 day moving average is $26.22.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America boosted 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. Barclays increased their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. TheStreet lowered PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Argus raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

PPL Company 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.