Zacks Research Issues Optimistic Forecast for PPL Earnings

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) – Analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q2 2026 EPS estimates for shares of PPL in a report issued on Wednesday, January 8th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.40 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.39. The consensus estimate for PPL’s current full-year earnings is $1.72 per share.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.09.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $31.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.44 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.83. PPL has a fifty-two week low of $25.35 and a fifty-two week high of $35.15.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 9.0% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 68,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 5,676 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 69.7% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 6,248 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in PPL in the second quarter worth approximately $169,000. Choreo LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 18.2% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 36,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $990,000 after acquiring an additional 5,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association lifted its stake in PPL by 12.6% in the second quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 12,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of PPL 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. This trade represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 91.96%.

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.