On Friday, electric utility PPL Corp (PPL), one of the larger holdings in the portfolio of our Dividend Growth Newsletter, issued better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. The firm’s outlook for its 2012 earnings, however, was in line with what most analysts were expecting. Specifically, the company expects 2012 earnings per share to come in the range of $2.15 and $2.45 (consensus estimates were at $2.42 per share). PPL projects that 70% of this year’s earnings will come from its regulated business, which continues to drive earnings strength. Though PPL noted that it expects lower profitability in its competitive-market supply segment due to higher-value hedge contracts, we think the upper end of firm’s guided earnings range is achievable. Importantly, the company also announced an increase in its quarterly dividend rate to $0.36 per common share, or $1.44 per share on an annualized basis (a 5%+ annual yield). The increased dividend is payable April 2, 2012, to shareholders of record as of March 9, 2012. We look forward to receiving payment of the dividend in the portfolio of our Dividend Growth Newsletter.
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