Morgan Stanley Lowers PPL (NYSE:PPL) Price Target to $38.00

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $39.00 to $38.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.82% from the stock's previous close.

PPL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays raised shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of PPL from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PPL presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $36.78.

View Our Latest Analysis on PPL

PPL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PPL traded down $0.25 on Thursday, reaching $36.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,275,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,484,101. PPL has a 52-week low of $31.22 and a 52-week high of $37.38. The company has a market cap of $26.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.59.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.05). PPL had a return on equity of 8.81% and a net margin of 11.22%.The business had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. PPL has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.870 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PPL will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO David J. Bonenberger sold 2,165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.86, for a total transaction of $77,636.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 45,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,633,781.60. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in PPL by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,938,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,008,861,000 after purchasing an additional 472,979 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in PPL by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,062,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $471,756,000 after purchasing an additional 3,544,282 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in PPL by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,598,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $310,503,000 after purchasing an additional 28,589 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PPL by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,998,199 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $288,815,000 after acquiring an additional 109,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in PPL by 3.9% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 7,881,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $284,608,000 after buying an additional 297,999 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.

PPL Company Profile

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.

Further Reading

• Five stocks we like better than PPL
• Industrial Products Stocks Investing
• Cintas Stock Sends a Clear Buy Signal as Momentum Builds
• P/E Ratio Calculation: How to Assess Stocks
• Micron’s Stock Price Rally Is Not Over: MU $190 Is Coming Soon
• How to Calculate Inflation Rate
• Why Traders Are Doubling Down on SoundHound Stock After Big Rally

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Should You Invest $1,000 in PPL Right Now?

Before you consider PPL, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and PPL wasn't on the list.

While PPL currently has a Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here