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

Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.50.

PPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on PPL from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Bank of America boosted their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on PPL from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. BTIG Research raised shares of PPL to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of PPL from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in PPL by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 12,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 2,880 shares during the period. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $119,000. Dynamic Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 5,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 25,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $905,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the period. Finally, Busey Bank grew its stake in shares of PPL by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Busey Bank now owns 6,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PPL Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $35.95 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.70. PPL has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $38.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.08.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 73.65%.

PPL Company Profile

PPL Corporation is an energy company that owns and operates electric transmission and distribution infrastructure and provides related customer services. The company’s core business centers on delivering electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers through regulated utility operations, maintaining grid reliability, responding to outages and managing customer billing and account services.

PPL’s activities include construction and maintenance of distribution and transmission lines, meter and grid management, and programs to support energy efficiency and the interconnection of distributed resources.