Hsbc Holdings PLC Raises Stock Holdings in PPL Corporation $PPL

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,335,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 126,179 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in PPL were worth $48,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 2nd quarter valued at $187,326,000. Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in PPL during the 2nd quarter worth $54,611,000. Man Group plc acquired a new stake in PPL during the 2nd quarter worth $36,935,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in PPL during the 2nd quarter worth $33,729,000. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in PPL during the 2nd quarter worth $28,297,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL opened at $35.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $35.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.63. PPL Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.17 and a 1 year high of $40.10.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). PPL had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 13.47%.The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kristen Robinson sold 37,107 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total value of $929,530.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 222,897 shares in the company, valued at $5,583,569.85. This trade represents a 14.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ashley Johnson sold 34,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total transaction of $772,645.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 561,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,397,522.56. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore set a $42.00 target price on shares of PPL in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on PPL from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on PPL from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

PPL Profile

PPL Corporation is an energy company that owns and operates electric transmission and distribution infrastructure and provides related customer services. The company’s core business centers on delivering electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers through regulated utility operations, maintaining grid reliability, responding to outages and managing customer billing and account services.

PPL’s activities include construction and maintenance of distribution and transmission lines, meter and grid management, and programs to support energy efficiency and the interconnection of distributed resources.