Peoples Financial Services CORP. Has $739,000 Stock Holdings in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. lowered its stake in PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) by 10.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in PPL were worth $739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,882,000 after buying an additional 1,189,339 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings 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 raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 71.3% in the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792,200 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake 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. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in PPL by 3.4% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,228,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,808,000 after buying an additional 104,662 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL traded up $0.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.61. 155,268 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,859,655. 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 50 day simple moving average of $31.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.56. PPL Co. has a 52-week low of $23.36 and a 52-week high of $33.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.82.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 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.