PPL (NYSE:PPL) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $33.15 and last traded at $33.2050, with a volume of 390246 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $33.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PPL. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of PPL from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of PPL in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of PPL from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of PPL from $42.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.31.

PPL Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $25.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.11 and a 200 day moving average of $36.38.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). PPL had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 13.47%.The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. PPL’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. On average, analysts expect that PPL Corporation will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, Director Kristen Robinson sold 37,107 shares of PPL stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total transaction of $929,530.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 222,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,583,569.85. This trade represents a 14.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Ashley F. 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 value of $772,645.44. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 494.5% in the 2nd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the period. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in PPL in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in PPL by 206.7% in the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silvant Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the second quarter worth $119,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

PPL Company Profile

PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) is an energy and utility holding company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, the company delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers, while also operating and maintaining generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure.

PPL’s Pennsylvania operations are conducted through PPL Electric Utilities, which provides electric delivery service across much of central and eastern Pennsylvania.