Q1 2024 EPS Estimates for PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Increased by Zacks Research

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for shares of PPL in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, April 25th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.52 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.51. The consensus estimate for PPL’s current full-year earnings is $1.70 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for PPL’s Q2 2024 earnings at $0.29 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $1.70 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.56 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $0.58 EPS.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. PPL had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 8.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS.

PPL has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. TheStreet downgraded shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of PPL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

PPL Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $27.02 on Friday. PPL has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $29.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $19.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.2575 dividend. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is 103.00%.

Institutional Trading of PPL

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of PPL during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 179.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.