PPL (NYSE:PPL) Raised to Strong-Buy at Citigroup

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

PPL has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays increased their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on PPL in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.70.

PPL Stock Performance

Shares of PPL stock opened at $34.02 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.05. PPL has a 52 week low of $25.93 and a 52 week high of $35.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $25.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Equities analysts forecast that PPL will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,779 shares of company stock worth $386,515. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PPL

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPL. Boston Partners lifted its position in PPL by 8,266.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,060,000 after acquiring an additional 9,404,382 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $228,509,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in PPL during the 4th quarter worth approximately $147,480,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in PPL by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,115,824,000 after acquiring an additional 3,731,412 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in PPL by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $891,532,000 after acquiring an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is 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.