StockNews.com Downgrades PPL (NYSE:PPL) to Sell

PPL (NYSE:PPL) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Argus raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 8th. TheStreet downgraded PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.27.

PPL Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL traded up $0.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $28.09. 3,810,483 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,444,747. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $20.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.39. PPL has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $28.93.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that PPL will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 21.2% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 345,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,145,000 after buying an additional 60,577 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in PPL by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 97,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,295,000 after purchasing an additional 3,788 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of PPL by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 182,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,304,000 after purchasing an additional 15,866 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of PPL by 35.1% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 14,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 3,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Advisors MI boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 7.1% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 34,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $820,000 after buying an additional 2,308 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.