PPL (NYSE:PPL) Upgraded at BTIG Research

BTIG Research upgraded shares of PPL (NYSE:PPL) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on PPL. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on PPL from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on PPL from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.50.

PPL Stock Down 0.0%

PPL opened at $37.35 on Wednesday. PPL has a fifty-two week low of $31.22 and a fifty-two week high of $38.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.59. The company has a market capitalization of $27.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.66.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.05). PPL had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 8.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The firm’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, analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total transaction of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,633,781.60. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PPL

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PPL. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 141.0% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of PPL by 94.3% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 8,350.0% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. 76.99% of the stock is 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.