PPL (NYSE:PPL) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $32.56, but opened at $31.76. PPL shares last traded at $33.01, with a volume of 480,948 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PPL. Barclays raised their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.40.

PPL Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $24.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.11.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 90.35%.

Institutional Trading of PPL

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,890,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $162,882,000 after buying an additional 1,189,339 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 91.3% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,820 shares during the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in PPL by 71.3% during the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,306,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792,200 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 21.8% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,217,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $116,105,000 after purchasing an additional 755,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in PPL by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,228,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,808,000 after purchasing an additional 104,662 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.