PPL (NYSE:PPL) Price Target Raised to $32.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its target price raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $30.00 to $32.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. TheStreet lowered PPL from a b- rating to a c rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com lowered PPL from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Argus raised PPL from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $32.27.

PPL Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PPL opened at $28.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.72 billion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.28. PPL has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $28.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.02 and a 200 day moving average of $26.45.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of PPL by 179.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of PPL in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of PPL by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.