PPL (NYSE:PPL) PT Raised to $28.00 at Mizuho

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its price objective boosted by Mizuho from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

PPL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Argus raised 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. StockNews.com lowered PPL from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, TheStreet cut PPL from a b- rating to a c rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPL currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $32.27.

PPL Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $28.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $20.72 billion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.81. PPL has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $28.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.39.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PPL. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in PPL by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 171,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,050,000 after purchasing an additional 9,905 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in PPL during the third quarter valued at $2,412,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 13.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,390,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,048,000 after buying an additional 1,695,726 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in PPL by 13.6% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,498,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,303,000 after buying an additional 178,898 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is 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.