PPL (NYSE:PPL) Given New $38.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets cut its PPL price target from $40 to $38 while maintaining an “outperform” rating, implying roughly 7.1% upside from the stock’s $35.47 price. Analysts overall remain moderately bullish, with a consensus target of $41.50.
• PPL’s latest quarterly results fell slightly short of expectations: adjusted EPS was $0.33 versus a $0.34 consensus, while revenue reached $2.11 billion against estimates of $2.19 billion. Revenue nevertheless increased 4.2% year over year, and fiscal-year EPS guidance stands at $1.90–$1.98.
• Insiders recently sold shares, including Director Kristen Robinson and CFO Ashley F. Johnson, while institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 76.99% of PPL’s stock.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by BMO Capital Markets from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the utilities provider's stock. BMO Capital Markets' target price points to a potential upside of 7.12% from the stock's current price.

PPL has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of PPL from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of PPL from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating on shares of PPL in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Mizuho raised PPL to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on PPL from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $35.47 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's 50-day moving average is $35.82 and its 200-day moving average is $36.83. PPL has a one year low of $33.17 and a one year high of $40.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). PPL had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 13.47%.The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm'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 analysts predict that PPL will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PPL by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,325 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 6.9% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Busey Bank lifted its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Busey Bank now owns 6,005 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of PPL by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 49,157 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plimoth Trust Co. LLC grew its stake in PPL by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 12,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About PPL

PPL Corporation is an energy company that owns and operates electric transmission and distribution infrastructure and provides related customer services. The company's core business centers on delivering electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers through regulated utility operations, maintaining grid reliability, responding to outages and managing customer billing and account services.

PPL's activities include construction and maintenance of distribution and transmission lines, meter and grid management, and programs to support energy efficiency and the interconnection of distributed resources.

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