Brokerages Set PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) PT at $33.75

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.75.

PPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of PPL by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 884,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,590,000 after acquiring an additional 46,552 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 866,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,848,000 after acquiring an additional 60,589 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 496,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,719,000 after acquiring an additional 39,513 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 52.1% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 154,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,197,000 after acquiring an additional 52,870 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 50.3% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,701,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $33.23 on Friday. PPL has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $33.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.82.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. Analysts forecast that PPL will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.