PPL plans dividend hike, to boost yield to 3.2%

PPL Corp.
PPL,
+2.09%
said Wednesday that it plans to raised it quarterly dividend by 6.7%, to 24 cents a share. Based on Tuesday’s closing price of the electricity generation and transmission company’s stock, the new annual dividend rate would imply a dividend yield of 3.18%, which compares with the yield for the SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF
XLU,
+0.81%
of 2.88% and the implied yield for the S&P 500
SPX,
+1.28%
of 1.72%. The company also expects 2023 earnings per share of $1.50 to $1.65, which surrounds the FactSet consensus of $1.59. The midpoint of PPL’s EPS guidance represents 12.5% growth above the FactSet 2022 EPS consensus of $1.40. The company said it expects to generate EPS and dividend growth in the 6%-to-8% range through at least 2026. PPL also expects $14.3 billion of capital investments through 2026, which is more than 20% above its previous plan. The stock, which slipped 0.4% in premarket trading, has run up 22.0% over the past three months through Tuesday, while the utilities ETF has rallied 12.4% and the S&P 500 has gained 9.2%.