PPL (NYSE:PPL) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $36.36 and traded as high as $37.18. PPL shares last traded at $36.9070, with a volume of 6,804,078 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of PPL from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of PPL in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.17.

PPL Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.36. The stock has a market cap of $27.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. PPL had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 9.29%. PPL’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $0.285 dividend. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PPL. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 4,424,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $154,957,000 after acquiring an additional 88,531 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in PPL by 905.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 523,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,342,000 after purchasing an additional 471,679 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its stake in PPL by 59.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 452,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,823,000 after purchasing an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its stake in PPL by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 348,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,199,000 after purchasing an additional 25,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its holdings in PPL by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 344,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,070,000 after purchasing an additional 18,840 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About PPL

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.