AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Pinnacle West Capital Corporation $PNW

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW - Free Report) by 56.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 414,529 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 149,488 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.35% of Pinnacle West Capital worth $39,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,464,661 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,377,759,000 after buying an additional 283,752 shares during the last quarter. ATLAS Infrastructure Partners UK Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 230.5% during the 1st quarter. ATLAS Infrastructure Partners UK Ltd. now owns 2,793,546 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $266,085,000 after buying an additional 1,948,416 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,509,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $143,781,000 after buying an additional 118,796 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,146,185 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $97,162,000 after buying an additional 245,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,104,560 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $105,203,000 after buying an additional 110,674 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Pinnacle West Capital from $94.00 to $93.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Pinnacle West Capital from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Pinnacle West Capital from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group cut their target price on Pinnacle West Capital from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 target price on Pinnacle West Capital and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pinnacle West Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $96.20.

Pinnacle West Capital Price Performance

Shares of PNW traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $88.16. 149,132 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,143,354. The stock has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.05 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $90.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.40. Pinnacle West Capital Corporation has a 12 month low of $81.47 and a 12 month high of $96.50.

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. Pinnacle West Capital had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 10.96%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Pinnacle West Capital Corporation will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Pinnacle West Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.895 per share. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Pinnacle West Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pinnacle West Capital

In related news, EVP Jacob Tetlow sold 6,496 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.37, for a total transaction of $600,035.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 56 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,172.72. This trade represents a 99.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Pinnacle West Capital 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.