Zacks Research Issues Positive Forecast for PPL Earnings

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q2 2026 EPS estimates for PPL in a report released on Wednesday, January 8th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the utilities provider will earn $0.40 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.39. The consensus estimate for PPL’s current full-year earnings is $1.72 per share.

Several other research firms also recently commented on PPL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.09.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $32.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.65. PPL has a 12-month low of $25.35 and a 12-month high of $35.15. The company has a market cap of $23.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.83.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted 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. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 1.7% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 17,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Leelyn Smith LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 79,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,209,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its position in PPL by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 14,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PPL by 3.1% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 1.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. This trade represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. PPL’s payout ratio is 91.96%.

About PPL

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.