PPL (NYSE:PPL) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $37.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. PPL traded as high as $32.56 and last traded at $32.56, with a volume of 1154 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.46.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in PPL by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 19,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 58,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,598,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV boosted its position in PPL by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 100,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,735,000 after purchasing an additional 15,979 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter valued at about $115,605,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in PPL by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 10,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Trading Down 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.79.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.