When Should You Buy PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL)?

PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NYSE over the last few months, increasing to US$28.83 at one point, and dropping to the lows of US$25.91. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether PPL's current trading price of US$26.38 reflective of the actual value of the large-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at PPL’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

Check out our latest analysis for PPL

What's The Opportunity In PPL?

PPL appears to be expensive according to my price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average. I’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 26.86x is currently well-above the industry average of 18.51x, meaning that it is trading at a more expensive price relative to its peers. Furthermore, PPL’s share price also seems relatively stable compared to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. If you believe the share price should eventually reach levels around its industry peers, a low beta could suggest it is unlikely to rapidly do so anytime soon, and once it’s there, it may be hard to fall back down into an attractive buying range.

What kind of growth will PPL generate?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. With profit expected to grow by 81% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for PPL. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has well and truly priced in PPL’s positive outlook, with shares trading above industry price multiples. However, this brings up another question – is now the right time to sell? If you believe PPL should trade below its current price, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards the industry PE ratio can be profitable. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on PPL for some time, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. The price has surpassed its industry peers, which means it is likely that there is no more upside from mispricing. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for PPL, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

If you want to dive deeper into PPL, you'd also look into what risks it is currently facing. While conducting our analysis, we found that PPL has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

If you are no longer interested in PPL, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.