PPL (NYSE:PPL) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Citigroup

PPL (NYSE:PPL) was upgraded by Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.70.

PPL Stock Down 0.8 %

PPL opened at $34.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $35.91.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 981 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.48, for a total value of $32,843.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,520,460.72. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.78, for a total value of $39,857.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,779 shares of company stock valued at $386,515 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in PPL by 23.9% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 30,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $994,000 after acquiring an additional 5,800 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in PPL by 30.5% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 67,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after acquiring an additional 15,761 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in PPL by 139.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in PPL in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in PPL in the third quarter valued at $273,000. 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.