Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for PPL (NYSE:PPL) Stock Price

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $36.00 to $35.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup upgraded PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.70.

PPL Stock Up 0.2%

PPL stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $33.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,755,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,982,969. The company's fifty day moving average price is $34.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.68. PPL has a twelve month low of $27.24 and a twelve month high of $36.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.64.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 11.49%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. PPL's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PPL will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. PPL's dividend payout ratio is currently 80.74%.

Insider Transactions at PPL

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $61,809.66. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 45,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,591,065.30. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of PPL

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in PPL by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,859,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,981,760,000 after buying an additional 750,033 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in PPL by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 36,829,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,195,484,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070,499 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in PPL by 1.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,938,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,008,861,000 after acquiring an additional 472,979 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in PPL by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $572,300,000 after purchasing an additional 500,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in PPL by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,062,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $471,756,000 after purchasing an additional 3,544,282 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.