The most recent trading session ended with PPL (PPL) standing at $35.31, reflecting a -1.15% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 2.36% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 2.48%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.55%.
The energy and utility holding company's shares have seen an increase of 2.76% over the last month, surpassing the Utilities sector's loss of 1.74% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.6%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of PPL in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on April 30, 2025. On that day, PPL is projected to report earnings of $0.55 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 1.85%. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $2.38 billion, reflecting a 3.36% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.82 per share and revenue of $8.52 billion, which would represent changes of +7.69% and +0.71%, respectively, from the prior year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts 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.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.18% lower within the past month. PPL presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, PPL currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 19.64. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 18.32, which means PPL is trading at a premium to the group.
Also, we should mention that PPL has a PEG ratio of 2.65. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Utility - Electric Power industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.73.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 40, placing it within the top 17% of over 250 industries.
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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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PPL Corporation (PPL): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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