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Why the Market Dipped But PPL (PPL) Gained Today

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PPL (PPL - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $27.18, demonstrating a +1.12% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.65%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.18%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 1.16%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the energy and utility holding company had gained 4.75% over the past month. This has outpaced the Utilities sector's gain of 3.61% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.4% in that time.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of PPL in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.50, indicating a 4.17% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $2.44 billion, indicating a 0.91% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.72 per share and revenue of $8.19 billion. These totals would mark changes of +7.5% and -1.46%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for PPL. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed an unchanged state. PPL currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

In terms of valuation, PPL is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 15.67. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 14.96 of its industry.

We can also see that PPL currently has a PEG ratio of 2.11. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. 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. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 171, which puts it in the bottom 33% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.


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