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

Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.1667.

Several brokerages have issued reports on PPL. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Barclays raised PPL from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $37.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on PPL from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on PPL from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $38.01 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.42. The firm has a market cap of $28.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. PPL has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $39.08.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly 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). PPL had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 9.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. Research analysts predict that PPL will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.25%.

Institutional Trading of PPL

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PPL. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in PPL during the third quarter worth $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in PPL by 322.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 293.8% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. 76.99% of the stock is 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.