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15 July
PPL (PPL) Stock Declines While Market Improves: Some Information for Investors

The most recent trading session ended with PPL (PPL) standing at $27.97, reflecting a -1.65% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.28% gain on the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.53%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.4%.

Shares of the energy and utility holding company witnessed a gain of 1.28% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Utilities sector with its loss of 0.35% and underperforming the S&P 500's gain of 3.78%.

The upcoming earnings release of PPL will be of great interest to investors. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.31, marking a 6.9% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $1.91 billion, reflecting a 4.73% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.71 per share and revenue of $8.77 billion, which would represent changes of +6.88% and +5.45%, respectively, from the prior year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for PPL. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained steady. PPL is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

In the context of valuation, PPL is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 16.63. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.86, which means PPL is trading at a premium to the group.

We can additionally observe that PPL currently boasts a PEG ratio of 2.44. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Utility - Electric Power industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.6 as of yesterday's close.

The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 98, positioning it in the top 39% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.