Villanova Investment Management Co LLC Reduces Position in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. $PNFP

Key Points

• Villanova Investment Management Co LLC reduced its stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 68.6% during Q1, owning 7,296 shares after selling 15,951 shares, which is 2.2% of their investment portfolio.
• Pinnacle Financial Partners reported $2.00 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding expectations of $1.92, with revenue growth of 15.1% year-over-year.
• Insiders, including Director G Kennedy Thompson, have been actively buying shares, with a reported 12,174 shares purchased valued at about $1.05 million over the past 90 days.

Villanova Investment Management Co LLC reduced its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP - Free Report) by 68.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,296 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 15,951 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners makes up 2.2% of Villanova Investment Management Co LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC's holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners were worth $774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 82.5% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,171 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,502 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 11,145 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,275,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,174 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in the 4th quarter worth about $1,162,000. 87.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:PNFP traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $97.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,152,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,048,913. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.57 and a 52 week high of $131.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $99.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.70.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.08. Pinnacle Financial Partners had a net margin of 18.69% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The business had revenue of $504.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. will post 7.85 EPS for the current year.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Pinnacle Financial Partners's payout ratio is presently 12.73%.

Insider Transactions at Pinnacle Financial Partners

In other news, Director Thomas C. Farnsworth III acquired 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $84.94 per share, with a total value of $84,940.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,401,848.38. This represents a 3.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Harold R. Carpenter acquired 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $89.73 per share, for a total transaction of $89,730.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 105,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,426,136.50. The trade was a 0.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 12,174 shares of company stock valued at $1,047,079 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $121.00 to $108.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $125.00 to $95.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Hovde Group lowered shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $113.50.

About Pinnacle Financial Partners

Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as the bank holding company for Pinnacle Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and professional entities in the United States. The company accepts various deposits, including savings, noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing checking, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts; and provides treasury management services, which includes online wire origination, enhanced ACH origination services, positive pay, zero balance and sweep accounts, automated bill pay services, electronic receivables processing, lockbox processing, and merchant card acceptance services.