PPL (NYSE:PPL) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $36.24 and traded as high as $38.66. PPL shares last traded at $38.58, with a volume of 8,289,883 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PPL shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on PPL from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on PPL from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays upgraded PPL from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of PPL from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $39.00 price target on shares of PPL in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

PPL Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.40 and its 200 day moving average is $36.25. The company has a market cap of $28.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.70.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.01). PPL had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. PPL has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.980 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that PPL Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 dividend yield of 3.0%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PPL

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of PPL by 4.5% in the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PPL by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its stake in PPL by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Busey Bank boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Busey Bank now owns 6,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of PPL by 1.1% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 37,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

About PPL

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.