PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.80.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th.

PPL Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of PPL opened at $33.57 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.13. PPL has a twelve month low of $27.24 and a twelve month high of $36.70. The stock has a market cap of $24.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that PPL will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 80.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $61,809.66. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,485 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,065.30. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $572,300,000 after purchasing an additional 500,058 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,842,000 after purchasing an additional 124,275 shares during the period. Aviso Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the first quarter valued at approximately $992,000. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 8,266.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $309,060,000 after purchasing an additional 9,404,382 shares during the period. 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.