PPL (NYSE:PPL) Now Covered by BMO Capital Markets

Stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of PPL (NYSE:PPL) in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target indicates a potential upside of 9.36% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price target on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.90.

PPL Price Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $32.92 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. PPL has a 12-month low of $25.35 and a 12-month high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that PPL will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value of $314,680.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in PPL by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 496,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,719,000 after acquiring an additional 39,513 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 2.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,935,000 after purchasing an additional 96,491 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,430,000 after purchasing an additional 55,594 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in PPL by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,067,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,153,000 after buying an additional 188,160 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in PPL during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.