PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.09.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 261,017 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,217,000 after acquiring an additional 7,363 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in PPL by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 68,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 5,676 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in PPL during the second quarter worth approximately $495,000. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 69.7% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 6,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL in the second quarter valued at approximately $169,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE:PPL opened at $31.76 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.09 and a 200-day moving average of $31.70. The firm has a market cap of $23.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. PPL has a twelve month low of $25.35 and a twelve month high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. PPL had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that PPL will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.96%.

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.