PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Receives $34.00 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.27.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America lifted their price target on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

PPL Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE PPL opened at $35.23 on Monday. PPL has a one year low of $25.87 and a one year high of $35.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.01 billion, a PE ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.87.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. As a group, analysts predict that PPL will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is currently 90.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total value of $52,627.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,186.40. This represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,633 shares of company stock valued at $346,657 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PPL

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,175,000. Yoffe Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $328,000. LifeWealth Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently 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.