PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on PPL, with 10 buy ratings and four holds among 14 firms. The average 12-month price target is $40.31, above the stock’s $33.02 opening price.
• PPL’s latest quarterly results slightly missed expectations, reporting $0.33 in EPS versus the $0.34 consensus and $2.11 billion in revenue versus $2.19 billion expected. The company reaffirmed fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $1.90–$1.98.
• PPL declared a quarterly dividend of $0.285 per share, equivalent to $1.14 annually and a 3.5% yield. Institutional investors own nearly 77% of the company’s outstanding shares.

Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.3077.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of PPL from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on PPL in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho raised PPL to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of PPL in a report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on PPL from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th.

PPL Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of PPL stock opened at $33.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. PPL has a fifty-two week low of $32.99 and a fifty-two week high of $40.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.34.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). PPL had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. PPL's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that PPL will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PPL. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in PPL during the second quarter worth approximately $187,326,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in PPL by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 4,424,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $154,957,000 after acquiring an additional 88,531 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 208,820 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,056,733 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $74,762,000 after purchasing an additional 393,748 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 9.3% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,837,296 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $66,786,000 after purchasing an additional 157,005 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.

About PPL

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.

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