PPL (NYSE:PPL) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

PPL (NYSE:PPL) posted its earnings results on Friday. The utilities provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02, FiscalAI reports. PPL had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from PPL’s conference call:

• Reaffirmed 2026 guidance and long-term targets: PPL reaffirmed 2026 ongoing EPS guidance of $1.90–$1.98 (midpoint $1.94), targets 6%–8% annual EPS growth and 4%–6% annual dividend growth, and plans roughly $23 billion of capital investment through 2029 supporting ~10.3% average annual rate base growth.
• Pennsylvania rate-case settlement provides near-term revenue visibility: PPL Electric Utilities reached a settlement (ALJ recommended approval) that limits bill impacts to under 4% for all classes and includes a two‑year stay‑out, supporting rate stability and affordability.
• Blackstone joint venture gaining momentum: The JV is advancing ESSA discussions with hyperscalers, has submitted multiple generation projects into PJM and completed turbine reservation activity, increasing the probability of JV-owned generation and upside beyond the current plan.
• Large data center pipelines driving incremental opportunity: Project pipelines of ~28.3 GW in Pennsylvania and ~12.9 GW in Kentucky are creating additional transmission and generation needs (management estimates at least ~$0.5B of upside transmission CapEx beyond the current plan) and supporting long‑term commercial demand.
• Regulatory and market risks remain: Kentucky base‑rate reconsideration by the KPSC and an ISO‑NE transmission ROE reduction (and related ~ $25M refund exposure) create regulatory uncertainty that could affect near‑term earnings and cost recovery.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock traded down $0.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $35.86. The stock had a trading volume of 9,304,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,629,112. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $38.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.77. PPL has a 1 year low of $33.12 and a 1 year high of $40.10. The stock has a market cap of $26.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of PPL by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 73,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 24,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $929,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 3,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 64.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Finally, von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL during the 3rd quarter worth $235,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PPL. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of PPL from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of PPL in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of PPL from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of PPL in a report on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PPL currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.00.

PPL Company Profile

PPL Corporation is an energy company that owns and operates electric transmission and distribution infrastructure and provides related customer services. The company’s core business centers on delivering electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers through regulated utility operations, maintaining grid reliability, responding to outages and managing customer billing and account services.

PPL’s activities include construction and maintenance of distribution and transmission lines, meter and grid management, and programs to support energy efficiency and the interconnection of distributed resources.