PPL (NYSE:PPL) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

PPL (NYSE:PPL) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

PPL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet downgraded PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Argus raised PPL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,327,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,967,842. PPL has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $29.03. The firm has a market cap of $20.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.88.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. PPL had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 8.90%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PPL will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of PPL by 179.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of PPL by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during 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.