PPL (NYSE:PPL) Upgraded to “Hold” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of PPL (NYSE:PPL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PPL. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Argus raised PPL from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $32.50.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $27.37 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.25. PPL has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $29.03. The company has a market capitalization of $20.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 8.90%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that PPL will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s payout ratio is 103.00%.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 179.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in PPL by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

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.