Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) Stock

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $95.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

PNW has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays lowered shares of Pinnacle West Capital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $91.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Pinnacle West Capital from $106.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on Pinnacle West Capital from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Pinnacle West Capital from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Pinnacle West Capital from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.58.

Pinnacle West Capital Price Performance

PNW stock opened at $92.53 on Wednesday. Pinnacle West Capital has a 52-week low of $67.51 and a 52-week high of $95.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $86.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.16. The stock has a market cap of $10.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by $0.25. Pinnacle West Capital had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 12.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pinnacle West Capital will post 5.13 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 Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.895 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. Pinnacle West Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pinnacle West Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Pinnacle West Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $194,655,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,298,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $364,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045,788 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $69,233,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Pinnacle West Capital by 462.8% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 912,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,387,000 after purchasing an additional 750,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Pinnacle West Capital by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,435,065 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $206,420,000 after purchasing an additional 610,042 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.