PPL (NYSE:PPL) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

PPL (NYSE:PPL) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Argus upgraded shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.50.

PPL Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:PPL opened at $27.30 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.91 and a 200 day moving average of $26.26. PPL has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $29.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. PPL had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 8.45%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that PPL will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at about $570,789,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in PPL by 13,891.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,724,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,229,000 after purchasing an additional 11,640,696 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at about $115,605,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter valued at about $108,799,000. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its position in PPL by 437.5% during the 4th quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $132,530,000 after purchasing an additional 3,980,626 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently 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.