PPL (NYSE:PPL) Price Target Raised to $30.00 at Bank of America

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its price target lifted by Bank of America from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an outperform rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Argus raised PPL from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $32.50.

PPL Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $26.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $19.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.05. PPL has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $29.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in PPL during the third quarter worth $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 179.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.