PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.27

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of 0.2725 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26.

PPL has decreased its dividend by an average of 14.7% per year over the last three years. PPL has a payout ratio of 55.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect PPL to earn $1.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.09 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.6%.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $33.76 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 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. PPL has a 1 year low of $25.87 and a 1 year high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. As a group, research analysts expect that PPL will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on PPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of 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 shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,794 shares of company stock worth $661,338. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

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.