Zacks Research Brokers Increase Earnings Estimates for PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) – Research analysts at Zacks Research boosted their Q2 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of PPL in a report released on Wednesday, May 22nd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the utilities provider will earn $0.30 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.29. The consensus estimate for PPL’s current full-year earnings is $1.71 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for PPL’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.46 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.41 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.51 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.44 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $0.68 EPS.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 EPS.

PPL has been the subject of several other reports. TheStreet cut PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. 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. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.27.

PPL Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $28.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.16 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, 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 $29.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.75 and a 200 day moving average of $26.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in PPL by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in PPL by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 171,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,050,000 after buying an additional 9,905 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in PPL during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,412,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in PPL by 13.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 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.