PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Forecasted to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $0.52 Per Share

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) – Zacks Research lifted their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for PPL in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, April 25th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the utilities provider will earn $0.52 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.51. The consensus estimate for PPL’s current full-year earnings is $1.70 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for PPL’s Q2 2024 earnings at $0.29 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $1.70 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.56 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $0.58 EPS.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on PPL. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Argus upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.50.

PPL Trading Down 1.0 %

PPL stock opened at $27.02 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.93 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.81. PPL has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $29.03.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. PPL had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 8.45%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. PPL’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in PPL by 179.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in PPL in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in PPL by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 103.00%.

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.