Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PNW. Barclays lowered their price objective on Pinnacle West Capital from $81.00 to $78.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Pinnacle West Capital from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $83.50 in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Pinnacle West Capital in a report on Monday, April 29th. They set a neutral rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of Pinnacle West Capital from a sell rating to a neutral rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Pinnacle West Capital from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the company from $71.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $75.46.

Pinnacle West Capital Price Performance

Shares of PNW opened at $80.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $9.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $76.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.16. Pinnacle West Capital has a twelve month low of $65.20 and a twelve month high of $86.03.

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

Pinnacle West Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. Pinnacle West Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 76.69%.

Institutional Trading of Pinnacle West Capital

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 3.4% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Pinnacle West Capital by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 70.6% in the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 4,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Pinnacle West Capital Company Profile

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.