PPL (NYSE:PPL) Hits New 1-Year High at $29.38

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $29.38 and last traded at $29.29, with a volume of 246226 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $29.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Argus upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 8th. StockNews.com upgraded PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on PPL from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.27.

PPL Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.61. The stock has a market cap of $21.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.39 billion. PPL had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 9.29%. PPL's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. Research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.2575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. This is a boost from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $570,789,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 13,891.2% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,724,495 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $276,229,000 after acquiring an additional 11,640,696 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $115,605,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,799,000. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of PPL by 437.5% in the fourth quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,890,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $132,530,000 after buying an additional 3,980,626 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.