Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.77.

Several analysts have commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Pinnacle West Capital from $81.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Pinnacle West Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Pinnacle West Capital from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pinnacle West Capital in a research report on Monday, April 29th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock.

Pinnacle West Capital Stock Up 0.1 %

PNW stock opened at $82.17 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $9.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $77.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Pinnacle West Capital has a 12 month low of $65.20 and a 12 month high of $86.03.

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.17. Pinnacle West Capital had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 8.29%. The company had revenue of $951.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $981.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.03) earnings per share. Pinnacle West Capital’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Pinnacle West Capital will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Pinnacle West Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. Pinnacle West Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.69%.

Institutional Trading of Pinnacle West Capital

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Pinnacle West Capital by 97.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,851,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $960,425,000 after acquiring an additional 6,344,121 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Pinnacle West Capital by 72.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,719,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $502,139,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828,450 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in Pinnacle West Capital during the first quarter worth about $198,409,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Pinnacle West Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $112,914,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pinnacle West Capital by 1,267.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 311,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,404,000 after buying an additional 289,061 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

About Pinnacle West Capital

Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, through its subsidiary, provides retail and wholesale electric services primarily in the state of Arizona. The company engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity using coal, nuclear, gas, oil, and solar generating facilities. Its transmission facilities include overhead lines and underground lines; and distribution facilities consist of overhead lines and underground primary cables.