PPL (NYSE:PPL) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $35.49 and traded as high as $37.55. PPL shares last traded at $37.43, with a volume of 7,605,226 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on PPL from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Bank of America increased their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.00.

PPL Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $27.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.59.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.05). PPL had a return on equity of 8.81% and a net margin of 11.22%.The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. PPL has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.870 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 81.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total value of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,633,781.60. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PPL

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PPL. Busey Bank bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the third quarter worth $210,000. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its stake in shares of PPL by 8.1% in the third quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 323,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,009,000 after purchasing an additional 24,255 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of PPL by 1.0% in the third quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 45,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 322.5% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stolper Co grew its stake in shares of PPL by 2.2% in the third quarter. Stolper Co now owns 55,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. 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.