PPL (NYSE:PPL) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $36.64 and last traded at $36.21, with a volume of 5113260 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.27.

PPL Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.48 and a 200 day moving average of $33.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $26.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. As a group, analysts anticipate that PPL Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.2725 dividend. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total transaction of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,520,460.72. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,140 shares of company stock worth $173,005 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners increased its holdings in PPL by 8,266.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,060,000 after purchasing an additional 9,404,382 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,509,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in PPL in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $147,480,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in PPL by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,115,824,000 after buying an additional 3,731,412 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in PPL by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $891,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,745 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.