PPL (NYSE:PPL) Price Target Raised to $28.00 at Mizuho

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at Mizuho from $27.00 to $28.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Argus upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, TheStreet cut PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPL currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.09.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $28.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $20.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.38. PPL has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $28.93. 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 (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. PPL had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 8.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in PPL by 179.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in PPL during the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

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.