Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for PPL (NYSE:PPL) Stock Price

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its target price reduced by Barclays from $34.00 to $33.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on PPL. Citigroup boosted their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

PPL Price Performance

PPL opened at $32.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.99. 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 firm has a market cap of $24.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.83. PPL has a 1 year low of $25.35 and a 1 year high of $35.15.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during 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%. PPL’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that PPL will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors 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 3.13%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.97%.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other PPL news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $213,510.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total value of $314,680.35. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,107.90. This represents a 42.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 85.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after acquiring an additional 51,366 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 2.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,935,000 after acquiring an additional 96,491 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in PPL by 0.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 55,594 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the third quarter worth about $1,218,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of PPL in the third quarter worth about $916,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.