PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.26

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 22nd,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of 0.2575 per share by the utilities provider on Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th.

PPL has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 16.7% per year over the last three years. PPL has a payout ratio of 56.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect PPL to earn $1.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.03 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.3%.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL opened at $34.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.66. PPL has a 1-year low of $25.35 and a 1-year high of $35.00.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.50.

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.