PPL (NYSE:PPL) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of PPL (NYSE:PPL) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $38.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $33.75.

PPL Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $31.79 on Thursday. PPL has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $32.82. The company has a market cap of $23.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.84.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that PPL will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at $115,605,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 10,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $216,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in PPL by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,333,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,242,000 after purchasing an additional 85,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently 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.