PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.27

PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of 0.2725 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a 5.8% increase from PPL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26.

PPL has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 14.7% per year over the last three years. PPL has a dividend payout ratio of 55.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect PPL to earn $1.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.09 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.3%.

PPL Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of PPL opened at $34.07 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.49 and its 200 day moving average is $32.99. The company has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a PE ratio of 28.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. PPL has a 12-month low of $25.93 and a 12-month high of $35.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

PPL (NYSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Research analysts expect that PPL will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on PPL from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.27.

Insider Activity at PPL

In other PPL news, insider Christine M. Martin sold 1,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,668.26. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 11,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,513.60. This represents a 37.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,779 shares of company stock worth $386,515 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.