PPL (NYSE:PPL) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $33.81 and last traded at $33.81, with a volume of 1000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PPL. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on PPL in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on PPL in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on PPL from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on PPL from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.50.

PPL Stock Down 0.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.46. The company has a market cap of $24.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.81.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that PPL Co. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is 91.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PPL in the 3rd quarter worth $262,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,177,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $566,275,000 after acquiring an additional 201,417 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 82,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,735,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 2,019,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,792,000 after acquiring an additional 173,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of PPL by 2.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 288,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,558,000 after buying an additional 7,315 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently 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.