PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $40.31 According to Analysts

Shares of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.31.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on PPL from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on PPL from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho raised PPL to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of PPL from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of PPL in a research report on Monday, September 14th.

PPL Stock Performance

PPL stock opened at $32.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.19. PPL has a 1-year low of $31.56 and a 1-year high of $40.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $24.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.57.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). PPL had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 13.47%.The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. On average, analysts expect that PPL will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a $0.2850 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. PPL’s payout ratio is 67.46%.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other news, CFO Ashley Johnson sold 34,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total value of $772,645.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 561,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,397,522.56. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristen Robinson sold 37,107 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total transaction of $929,530.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 222,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,583,569.85. The trade was a 14.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PPL. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PPL by 11.9% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after buying an additional 4,508 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in PPL by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 38,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after acquiring an additional 5,260 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PPL by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 38,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 4,536 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in PPL by 41.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 409,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,896,000 after acquiring an additional 120,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its position in PPL by 104.3% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 618,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,481,000 after acquiring an additional 315,788 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PPL Company Profile

PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) is an energy and utility holding company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, the company delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers, while also operating and maintaining generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure.

PPL’s Pennsylvania operations are conducted through PPL Electric Utilities, which provides electric delivery service across much of central and eastern Pennsylvania.