Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

PNW has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Pinnacle West Capital in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Pinnacle West Capital from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Scotiabank began coverage on Pinnacle West Capital in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Pinnacle West Capital from $106.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pinnacle West Capital in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.77.

Pinnacle West Capital Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE PNW opened at $105.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.71. Pinnacle West Capital has a one year low of $86.18 and a one year high of $111.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.48.

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The utilities provider reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.17. Pinnacle West Capital had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The firm had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. Pinnacle West Capital’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pinnacle West Capital will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Pinnacle West Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.9250 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. This is a positive change from Pinnacle West Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Pinnacle West Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PNW. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 8.2% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 16.8% during the third quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC now owns 5,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 4,435.5% during the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 234,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,779,000 after buying an additional 228,917 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Pinnacle West Capital by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Pinnacle West Capital by 88.8% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 131,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,230,000 after buying an additional 61,798 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

About Pinnacle West Capital

Pinnacle West Capital Corporation is an energy holding company whose principal subsidiary, Arizona Public Service Company (APS), provides electric service in Arizona. APS generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

APS serves communities across central and northern Arizona, including the Phoenix metropolitan area. Its electricity supply comes from a mix of generating resources, including nuclear, natural gas, coal and renewable energy.

Pinnacle West became the parent company of APS in 1985.