PPL (NYSE:PPL) Price Target Raised to $28.00

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its price target boosted by Mizuho from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com cut PPL from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday. TheStreet lowered shares of PPL from a b- rating to a c rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Argus upgraded shares of PPL from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 8th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $32.27.

PPL Price Performance

PPL stock opened at $28.09 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.42. PPL has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $28.93. The firm has a market cap of $20.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that PPL will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $570,789,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in PPL by 13,891.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,724,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,229,000 after buying an additional 11,640,696 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $115,605,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in PPL during the 4th quarter worth $108,799,000. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 437.5% in the 4th quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,530,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980,626 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Company Profile

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.