PPL (NYSE:PPL) Given New $37.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

PPL (NYSE:PPL) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.20% from the stock’s current price.

PPL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on PPL from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.36.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $32.40 on Monday. PPL has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $32.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.65 and its 200 day moving average is $28.79. The stock has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $570,789,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $115,605,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $108,799,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its position in PPL by 437.5% in the fourth quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,530,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in PPL by 91.3% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,821,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,820 shares during the last quarter. 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.