Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for PPL (NYSE:PPL) Stock Price

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $35.00 to $38.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

PPL has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.27.

PPL Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.78 on Thursday. PPL has a fifty-two week low of $25.93 and a fifty-two week high of $35.91. The firm has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This is a boost from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other PPL news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,520,460.72. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 85.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 111,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,834,000 after purchasing an additional 51,366 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 55,594 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the third quarter valued at about $1,218,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its position in PPL by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,842,000 after purchasing an additional 124,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in PPL in the third quarter worth about $916,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.