PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Receives $33.18 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.18.

Several brokerages have recently commented on PPL. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PPL by 2,647.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 155,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,203,000 after purchasing an additional 149,442 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 11,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 432.3% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 383,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,391,000 after acquiring an additional 311,408 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Up 0.3 %

PPL stock opened at $32.21 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.42. The company has a market capitalization of $23.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.82. PPL has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $32.42.

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

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

About PPL

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.