PPL (NYSE:PPL) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of PPL (NYSE:PPL) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.09.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $32.29 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $23.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.82. PPL has a fifty-two week low of $25.35 and a fifty-two week high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 91.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PPL. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after buying an additional 3,731,412 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of PPL by 91.3% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,820 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of PPL by 6.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,160,760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,122 shares in the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 71.3% during the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 5.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,215,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,941 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.