PPL (NYSE:PPL) Raised to "Hold" at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada upgraded PPL to “Hold,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with 10 Buy ratings and four Hold ratings and an average price target of $40.54.
• PPL shares opened at $33.39, near their 12-month low of $33.17. The utility’s latest quarterly results narrowly missed estimates, with EPS of $0.33 versus $0.34 expected and revenue of $2.11 billion versus $2.19 billion forecast.
• Institutional investors own approximately 76.99% of PPL, with several funds initiating or increasing positions; meanwhile, two insiders sold shares, including the CFO’s sale of nearly 35,000 shares.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of PPL from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of PPL from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on PPL from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho raised PPL to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.54.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $33.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business's 50-day moving average price is $35.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.45. PPL has a 12 month low of $33.17 and a 12 month high of $40.10.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). PPL had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that PPL will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ashley F. Johnson sold 34,993 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total transaction of $772,645.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 561,482 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,397,522.56. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Robinson sold 37,107 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total transaction of $929,530.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 222,897 shares in the company, valued at $5,583,569.85. This trade represents a 14.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,521,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PPL in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,893,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in PPL during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,651,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in PPL by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,157,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $114,787,000 after buying an additional 208,820 shares during the period. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in PPL during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,111,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PPL Company Profile

PPL Corporation NYSE: PPL is an energy and utility holding company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, the company delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers, while also operating and maintaining generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure.

PPL's Pennsylvania operations are conducted through PPL Electric Utilities, which provides electric delivery service across much of central and eastern Pennsylvania.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.