PPL (NYSE:PPL) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of PPL (NYSE:PPL) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on PPL. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.09.

PPL Stock Down 1.2 %

PPL stock opened at $36.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.81. PPL has a 1-year low of $27.24 and a 1-year high of $36.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that PPL will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 90.08%.

Insider Activity at PPL

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 28,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. increased its holdings in PPL by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 78,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in PPL by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 37,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

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.