PPL (NYSE:PPL) Research Coverage Started at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of PPL (NYSE:PPL) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $37.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

PPL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of PPL in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.40.

PPL Trading Down 1.3 %

PPL opened at $32.43 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.86. PPL has a fifty-two week low of $24.10 and a fifty-two week high of $33.38. The company has a market cap of $23.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. PPL had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. PPL’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Leelyn Smith LLC increased its stake in shares of PPL by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 79,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,209,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its position in PPL by 15.7% during the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 2,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in PPL by 3.4% in the second quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 11,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in PPL by 3.1% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of PPL by 1.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $869,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is 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.