PPL (NYSE:PPL) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

PPL (NYSE:PPL) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on PPL. Barclays lifted their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.90.

PPL Trading Down 2.0 %

PPL stock opened at $35.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.17 and a 200-day moving average of $33.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. PPL has a one year low of $27.24 and a one year high of $36.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that PPL will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PPL. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 141.0% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in PPL by 94.3% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

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.