PPL (NYSE:PPL) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPL (NYSE:PPL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.90.

PPL Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of PPL stock opened at $35.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. PPL has a twelve month low of $27.24 and a twelve month high of $36.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.24 billion, a PE ratio of 29.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $35.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.97.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PPL will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.2725 dividend. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is 80.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its position in shares of PPL by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 28,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 16.0% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 78,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.