PPL (NYSE:PPL) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $36.36 and traded as high as $37.18. PPL shares last traded at $36.9070, with a volume of 6,804,078 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PPL. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Barclays upgraded PPL from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $37.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on PPL from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on PPL from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on PPL from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.17.

PPL Trading Up 1.0%

The company has a market capitalization of $27.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $37.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.36.

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

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. PPL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.25%.

Institutional Trading of PPL

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPL. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in PPL in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates purchased a new stake in shares of PPL in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of PPL by 322.5% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 293.8% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the period. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PPL during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.