PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) to Issue $0.26 Quarterly Dividend

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 22nd,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.2575 per share by the utilities provider on Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%.

PPL has decreased its dividend by an average of 16.7% per year over the last three years. PPL has a payout ratio of 56.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect PPL to earn $1.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.03 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.3%.

PPL Stock Performance

NYSE PPL opened at $34.85 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.60. The company has a market capitalization of $25.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.11, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.81. PPL has a 1-year low of $25.35 and a 1-year high of $34.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. PPL had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that PPL will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on PPL in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on PPL in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on PPL from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

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.