PPL (NYSE:PPL) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

PPL (NYSE:PPL) released its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. PPL updated its FY24 guidance to $1.67-1.73 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 1.670-1.730 EPS.

PPL Trading Down 3.1 %

NYSE PPL traded down $1.00 during trading on Friday, hitting $31.56. The company had a trading volume of 5,959,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,855,602. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.33 and its 200-day moving average is $30.01. PPL has a one year low of $24.78 and a one year high of $33.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PPL. Bank of America raised their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.40.

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.