PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.00.

PPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on PPL from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on PPL from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 21st. Bank of America cut their price objective on PPL from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th.

PPL Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of PPL stock opened at $35.06 on Friday. PPL has a 52-week low of $33.17 and a 52-week high of $40.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.67. The firm has a market cap of $26.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.57.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). PPL had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kristen Robinson sold 37,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total transaction of $929,530.35. Following the sale, the director owned 222,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,583,569.85. The trade was a 14.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ashley Johnson sold 34,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total transaction of $772,645.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 561,482 shares in the company, valued at $12,397,522.56. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in PPL by 494.5% during the second quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in PPL during the second quarter worth $42,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in PPL by 206.7% during the second quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 72.5% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC grew its holdings in PPL by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 3,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

About PPL

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.