Wells Fargo & Company Boosts PPL (NYSE:PPL) Price Target to $32.00

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on PPL. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet lowered PPL from a b- rating to a c rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Argus upgraded PPL from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $32.27.

PPL Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:PPL opened at $28.09 on Thursday. PPL has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $28.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.02 and its 200-day moving average is $26.42. The firm has a market cap of $20.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.28.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that PPL will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PPL. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of PPL by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 345,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,145,000 after purchasing an additional 60,577 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its position in PPL by 4.0% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 97,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,295,000 after acquiring an additional 3,788 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in PPL by 9.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 182,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,304,000 after acquiring an additional 15,866 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in PPL by 35.1% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 14,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 3,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Advisors MI grew its position in shares of PPL by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 34,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $820,000 after acquiring an additional 2,308 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

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.