PPL (NYSE:PPL) Price Target Raised to $36.00

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its price objective hoisted by Citigroup from $31.00 to $36.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

PPL has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.09.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $32.29 on Thursday. PPL has a 1 year low of $25.35 and a 1 year high of $35.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $23.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.11 and a 200 day moving average of $31.16.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Research analysts forecast that PPL will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.96%.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other news, insider John R. Crockett III sold 9,161 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.35, for a total transaction of $314,680.35. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,434 shares in the company, valued at $427,107.90. The trade was a 42.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,260,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,935,000 after purchasing an additional 96,491 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in PPL by 0.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,594 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in PPL by 10.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,067,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,153,000 after acquiring an additional 188,160 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in PPL during the third quarter worth $1,218,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its position in PPL by 30.5% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 67,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 15,761 shares during the period. 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.