PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.50.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Bank of America upped their target price on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Argus upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at about $570,789,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in PPL by 13,891.2% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,724,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,229,000 after acquiring an additional 11,640,696 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $115,605,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $108,799,000. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 437.5% in the 4th quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,530,000 after purchasing an additional 3,980,626 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPL Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $27.53 on Tuesday. PPL has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $29.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.93 and a 200-day moving average of $26.34. The stock has a market cap of $20.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.88.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 8.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PPL will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.00%.

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.