PPL Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.26 (NYSE:PPL)

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 23rd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.2575 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th.

PPL has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 16.7% per year over the last three years. PPL has a payout ratio of 56.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect PPL to earn $1.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.03 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.3%.

PPL Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $32.07 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $23.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.97 and its 200 day moving average is $28.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.91. PPL has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $32.54.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on PPL from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.18.

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.