PPL (NYSE:PPL) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of PPL (NYSE:PPL) in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $37.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on PPL. Bank of America raised their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on PPL in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.40.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $32.43 on Friday. PPL has a one year low of $24.10 and a one year high of $33.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $32.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.49, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.82.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PPL will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PPL. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in PPL by 91.3% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,820 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792,200 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 50.3% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572,771 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. purchased a new position in PPL during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,713,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,217,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,105,000 after purchasing an additional 755,689 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

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.