PPL (NYSE:PPL) Given New $36.00 Price Target at Citigroup

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its price target raised by Citigroup from $31.00 to $36.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.09.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $32.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $23.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.12 and its 200 day moving average is $31.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. PPL has a 52-week low of $25.35 and a 52-week high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. PPL’s payout ratio is 91.97%.

Insider Activity

In other PPL news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,107.90. This trade represents a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PPL by 31.9% during the second quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 17,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 4,204 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the second quarter valued at about $284,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 16.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 767.6% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 3,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 2,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 3.3% in the second quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,349,000 after purchasing an additional 6,031 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.