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PPL (PPL) Stock Dips While Market Gains: Key Facts

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PPL (PPL - Free Report) closed at $28.16 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.88% move from the prior day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.26% for the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.18%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.35%.

The the stock of energy and utility holding company has fallen by 2.51% in the past month, lagging the Utilities sector's loss of 1.53% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.25%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of PPL in its upcoming release. 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. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $1.88 billion, indicating a 3.14% 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 $8.26 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +6.88% and -0.62%, respectively.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for PPL. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable 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 last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.29% higher. PPL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

From a valuation perspective, PPL is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 16.61. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.04, which means PPL is trading at a premium to the group.

Also, we should mention that PPL has a PEG ratio of 2.44. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Utility - Electric Power industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.63 as of yesterday's close.

The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 81, placing it within the top 33% 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.

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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