Bank of America Boosts PPL (NYSE:PPL) Price Target to $34.00

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Bank of America from $33.00 to $34.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.38% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.18.

PPL Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE PPL traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $31.37. 1,755,471 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,887,061. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $23.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.81. PPL has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $32.12.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in PPL during the fourth quarter valued at $570,789,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $115,605,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $108,799,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in PPL by 437.5% in the 4th quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,530,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in PPL by 91.3% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,977,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778,820 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.