PPL (NYSE:PPL) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPL (NYSE:PPL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PPL. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America upped their target price on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet downgraded PPL from a b- rating to a c rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays upped their target price on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Argus upgraded PPL from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $32.50.

PPL Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $27.02 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.81. PPL has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $29.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $26.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.28.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 8.90%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. PPL’s revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.2575 dividend. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 103.00%.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of PPL by 179.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in PPL by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.