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

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on PPL. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.27.

PPL Stock Down 0.6 %

PPL opened at $34.78 on Friday. PPL has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $35.91. The company has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.99 and a 200 day moving average of $33.20.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of PPL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 1,424 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $47,675.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,951.32. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,140 shares of company stock valued at $173,005 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,981,760,000 after purchasing an additional 750,033 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in PPL by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,195,484,000 after buying an additional 2,070,499 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of PPL by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,459,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,215,363,000 after buying an additional 1,720,941 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of PPL by 6.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,089,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,760,000 after buying an additional 2,050,122 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $891,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,745 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.