PPL (NYSE:PPL) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

PPL (NYSE:PPL) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. PPL had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 8.45%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. PPL’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. PPL updated its FY24 guidance to $1.63-1.75 EPS.

PPL Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of PPL traded down $0.08 on Thursday, reaching $27.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,981,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,994,902. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. PPL has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $28.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.59 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.98 and a 200-day moving average of $26.38.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. PPL’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PPL. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. TheStreet lowered shares of PPL from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of PPL from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of PPL from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.09.

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.