PPL (NYSE:PPL) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

PPL (NYSE:PPL) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on PPL. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. 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. TheStreet downgraded PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Argus upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

PPL Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $28.00 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.98 and a 200 day moving average of $26.38. 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 has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $28.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.65 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at about $570,789,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 13,891.2% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,724,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,229,000 after buying an additional 11,640,696 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $115,605,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $108,799,000. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in PPL by 437.5% in the 4th quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $132,530,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980,626 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.