PPL (PPL) closed the most recent trading day at $29, moving +1.33% from the previous trading session. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 1.08%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.32%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.58%.
The energy and utility holding company’s shares have seen an increase of 2.36% over the last month, surpassing the Utilities sector’s gain of 0.61% and the S&P 500’s gain of 0.43%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of PPL in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on August 2, 2024. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.31, up 6.9% from the prior-year quarter. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $1.91 billion, indicating a 4.73% upward movement from the same quarter last year.
PPL’s full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $1.71 per share and revenue of $8.77 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +6.88% and +5.45%, respectively.
Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for PPL. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company’s business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. As of now, PPL holds a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Looking at valuation, PPL is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 16.74. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 15.53, so one might conclude that PPL is trading at a premium comparatively.
Also, we should mention that PPL has a PEG ratio of 2.45. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company’s expected 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. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 92, this industry ranks in the top 37% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don’t forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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PPL Corporation (PPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
