Barclays Upgrades PPL (NYSE:PPL) to "Strong-Buy"

Barclays upgraded shares of PPL (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on PPL. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PPL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup raised shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.70.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PPL traded up $0.22 on Monday, hitting $33.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,845,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,959,533. PPL has a 12-month low of $27.25 and a 12-month high of $36.70. The company has a market capitalization of $24.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.41 and a 200-day moving average of $34.21.

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

PPL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. PPL's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PPL news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 1,767 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of PPL by 8,266.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $309,060,000 after purchasing an additional 9,404,382 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $228,509,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $891,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380,745 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 1,418.1% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,909,371 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $105,057,000 after purchasing an additional 2,717,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,063,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.