PPL Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:PPL)

Posted by Geri Gentry on Jul 22nd, 2026

PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL – Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 5,697 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 239% compared to the average volume of 1,682 call options.

PPL Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE PPL traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $35.81. 1,148,770 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,806,291. PPL has a 1-year low of $33.17 and a 1-year high of $40.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $26.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.57.

PPL (NYSE:PPL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 9.41% and a net margin of 13.09%.The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PPL will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th were issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.51%.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other news, Director John W. Raymond sold 6,494 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.16, for a total value of $169,883.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 37,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $970,902.24. The trade was a 14.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kristen Robinson sold 37,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total value of $929,530.35. Following the sale, the director owned 222,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,583,569.85. The trade was a 14.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 243,601 shares of company stock worth $6,283,413 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 905.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 523,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,342,000 after acquiring an additional 471,679 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 4,424,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $154,957,000 after purchasing an additional 88,531 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in PPL by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 115,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,054,000 after purchasing an additional 44,657 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $1,060,000. Finally, Allstate Corp grew its stake in PPL by 101.4% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 54,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 27,538 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PPL shares. Mizuho upgraded PPL to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 3rd. Seaport Research Partners set a $42.00 price target on PPL in a report on Monday, April 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of PPL in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.58.

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PPL Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

PPL Corporation is an energy company that owns and operates electric transmission and distribution infrastructure and provides related customer services. The company’s core business centers on delivering electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers through regulated utility operations, maintaining grid reliability, responding to outages and managing customer billing and account services.

PPL’s activities include construction and maintenance of distribution and transmission lines, meter and grid management, and programs to support energy efficiency and the interconnection of distributed resources.