PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.50.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Barclays upped their price target on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company.

PPL Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $33.72 on Friday. PPL has a 52 week low of $25.35 and a 52 week high of $33.75. The company’s 50 day moving average is $32.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.38. 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 company has a market cap of $24.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.81.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in PPL by 8.7% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 496,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,719,000 after buying an additional 39,513 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 50.3% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,433,000 after buying an additional 1,572,771 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in PPL by 10.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,067,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,153,000 after buying an additional 188,160 shares during the last quarter. Sagefield Capital LP lifted its stake in PPL by 70.8% in the second quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 138,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,839,000 after buying an additional 57,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in PPL by 49.8% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 125,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,460,000 after buying an additional 41,609 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.