PPL (NYSE:PPL) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $39.23 and last traded at $38.7790, with a volume of 5604 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $38.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on PPL from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on PPL from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Mizuho lifted their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of PPL in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.17.

PPL Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.35 billion, a PE ratio of 24.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.66.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.01). PPL had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 13.5% during the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 4,336,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $161,136,000 after buying an additional 515,523 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of PPL during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,009,000. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of PPL by 59.5% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 452,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,823,000 after buying an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 905.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 523,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,342,000 after buying an additional 471,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its stake in shares of PPL by 8.1% during the third quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 323,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,009,000 after buying an additional 24,255 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Company Profile

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.