PPL (NYSE:PPL) Price Target Lowered to $38.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $39.00 to $38.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 20.29% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PPL. Barclays raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PPL currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.09.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $31.59 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.12 and a 200-day moving average of $31.23. The stock has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.82. PPL has a 52 week low of $25.35 and a 52 week high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that PPL will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 85.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,834,000 after purchasing an additional 51,366 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in PPL by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,935,000 after buying an additional 96,491 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in PPL by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after buying an additional 55,594 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,067,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,153,000 after buying an additional 188,160 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,218,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.