Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW) Stake Boosted by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW - Free Report) by 57.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,065,801 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 388,527 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.89% of Pinnacle West Capital worth $101,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 1.2% during the first quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 24,064 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,292,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 39.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,108 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 18.4% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 12,906 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,229,000 after buying an additional 2,002 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 2.9% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 24,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,372,000 after buying an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 51.2% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,715 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PNW. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Pinnacle West Capital in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pinnacle West Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Pinnacle West Capital to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.00.

Pinnacle West Capital Stock Performance

PNW stock traded down $0.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $89.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,021,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,120,337. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.43. Pinnacle West Capital Co. has a one year low of $74.45 and a one year high of $96.50. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $91.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.02.

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.09). Pinnacle West Capital had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. Pinnacle West Capital's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Pinnacle West Capital Co. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Pinnacle West Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.895 per share. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. Pinnacle West Capital's payout ratio is currently 71.17%.

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.