PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.00.

Several research firms have recently commented on PPL. Citigroup upped their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total value of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,186.40. This trade represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,633 shares of company stock worth $346,657 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PPL

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in PPL by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,981,760,000 after buying an additional 750,033 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in PPL by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,195,484,000 after buying an additional 2,070,499 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in PPL by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,215,363,000 after buying an additional 1,720,941 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in PPL by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,760,000 after buying an additional 2,050,122 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $891,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $34.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.75. PPL has a fifty-two week low of $25.87 and a fifty-two week high of $35.15. The stock has a market cap of $25.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. As a group, analysts expect that PPL will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.12%.

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.