Zacks Research Brokers Increase Earnings Estimates for PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) – Research analysts at Zacks Research boosted their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of PPL in a report released on Wednesday, May 22nd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.30 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.29. The consensus estimate for PPL’s current full-year earnings is $1.71 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for PPL’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.46 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.41 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.51 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.44 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $0.68 EPS.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Argus raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.27.

PPL Trading Down 0.3 %

PPL opened at $28.68 on Thursday. PPL has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $29.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.16 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $27.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.28.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of PPL by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of PPL by 6.1% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 171,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,050,000 after purchasing an additional 9,905 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the third quarter worth $2,412,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 13.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,390,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,726 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% 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.