PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two 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. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.09.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PPL. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 40,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after buying an additional 11,343 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its stake in PPL by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 57,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,851,000 after acquiring an additional 6,360 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at about $291,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 3,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 882,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,192,000 after purchasing an additional 52,547 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PPL Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $32.13 on Friday. PPL has a twelve month low of $25.35 and a twelve month high of $35.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.65.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.96%.

PPL Company Profile

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.