Yahoo Finance Why PPL Stock Is a Good Choice for Your Portfolio Right Now
PPL Corporation’s PPL planned investments in strengthening infrastructure, increased focus on cleaner energy generation, acquisitions and growth in domestic operations are likely to enhance its existing operations.
Let’s focus on the factors that make this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock a strong investment pick at the moment. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Growth Projection & Surprise History
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PPL Corporation’s 2022 earnings has moved up by 0.7% in the past 30 days to $1.39 per share. PPL’s 2023 earnings estimates have moved up by 0.6% in the past 30 days to $1.59 per share.
Revenue estimates for 2022 of $6.5 billion imply growth of 13.1% from the 2021 reported figure. The same for 2023 is pegged at $6.7 billion, implying growth of 2.6% from the 2021 reported figure.
Dividend
PPL Corporation has a long history of dividend payments and has paid out dividends to shareholders consecutively since 1946. PPL expects the dividend payout ratio in the range of 60-65%.
In June 2022, the board of directors approved a 12.5% increase in the quarterly dividend rate to 22.5 cents per share from 20 cents in the first quarter of 2022.
Currently, PPL Corporation has a dividend yield of 3.1% compared with the Zacks S&P 500 composite's average of 1.8%.
Investment & Emission Reduction
PPL Corporation’s capital investment plan primarily focuses on infrastructure construction projects for generation, transmission and distribution. PPL expects a five-year capital expenditure plan from 2022 to 2026 of $12 billion and expects a 2022 capital expenditure of $2.3 billion.
Also, PPL has an additional investment plan beyond 2026 of $15 billion through 2023. Due to its significant investment and the rising demand for energy, the electric sales volume of PPL Corporation in Pennsylvania and Kentucky improved by 1.7% and 0.3%, respectively, in the trailing 12 months.
PPL targets to reduce carbon emissions by 70% by 2035 and 80% within 2040 from the 2010 levels by introducing new carbon capture technology and adding more renewable sources to the generation portfolio. Further, it targets to become carbon neutral by 2050.
Debt Position
The Debt to Capital of PPL Corporation at the end of the second quarter of 2022 was 49.6% compared with the industry average of 61.2%. This indicates that the company is using comparatively lower debts to manage the business compared with peers.
Price Performance
In the past three months, PPL stock has rallied 2.9% against the industry’s decline of 3.7%.
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Other Stocks to Consider
Some other similar-ranked stocks from the same sector include American Electric Power Company AEP, AVANGRID Inc. AGR and Alliant Energy Corporation LNT.
The long-term (three to five years) earnings growth of American Electric Power, AVANGRID and Alliant Energy is projected at 6.1%, 5.9% and 6.2%, respectively.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings per share of American Electric Power, AVANGRID and Alliant Energy has moved up 5.3%, 5.1% and 6.5%, respectively, year over year.
AEP, AGR and LNT delivered average earnings surprises of 1.9%, 17.9% and 5.8%, respectively, in the last four quarters.
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