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PPL (PPL) Advances But Underperforms Market: Key Facts

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PPL (PPL - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $27.99, moving +0.86% from the previous trading session. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.41%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.58%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 2.2%.

The energy and utility holding company's shares have seen an increase of 6.49% over the last month, surpassing the Utilities sector's gain of 3.13% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.9%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of PPL in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.38, reflecting a 35.71% increase from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $2.08 billion, indicating a 9.04% decrease compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for PPL. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.29% lower within the past month. PPL currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note PPL's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 16.18. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.2, which means PPL is trading at a premium to the group.

One should further note that PPL currently holds a PEG ratio of 2.18. 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 had an average PEG ratio of 2.7 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 76, this industry ranks in the top 31% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in 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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