Mizuho Increases PPL (NYSE:PPL) Price Target to $28.00

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Mizuho from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on PPL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Argus raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.09.

PPL Stock Up 2.0 %

PPL stock opened at $28.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.00, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.88. PPL has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $28.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.38.

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

Institutional Trading of PPL

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Philadelphia Trust Co. grew its position in PPL by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Philadelphia Trust Co. now owns 16,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 46,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,103,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. raised its position in shares of PPL by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 77,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,087,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance raised its position in shares of PPL by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 19,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.