PPL (NYSE:PPL) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

PPL (NYSE:PPL) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

PPL has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.90.

PPL Trading Up 0.3 %

PPL opened at $36.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.91, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. PPL has a one year low of $27.24 and a one year high of $36.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Analysts predict that PPL will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of PPL by 141.0% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in PPL by 94.3% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in PPL during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. lifted its position in shares of PPL by 1,057.6% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

About PPL

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.