StockNews.com Upgrades PPL (NYSE:PPL) to "Hold"

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on PPL. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on PPL from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on PPL from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on PPL from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.90.

PPL Trading Down 0.4 %

PPL stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.49. 4,788,057 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,909,014. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.70. PPL has a 12 month low of $27.24 and a 12 month high of $36.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $35.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.96.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. PPL's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that PPL will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total transaction of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,677,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $572,300,000 after acquiring an additional 500,058 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its holdings in PPL by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,997,610 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $64,842,000 after buying an additional 124,275 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of PPL by 128.0% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 82,063 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,641,000 after buying an additional 46,071 shares during the period. Aviso Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the fourth quarter worth about $256,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of PPL by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 696,487 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $22,608,000 after acquiring an additional 16,188 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Company Profile

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.