Vestcor Inc Purchases New Shares in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc has acquired 5,486 shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners, valued at approximately $582,000, marking a new investment in the financial services provider.
• Insider trading activity included CFO Harold R. Carpenter purchasing 1,000 shares at an average price of $89.73, increasing his ownership stake to over 105,000 shares.
• Wall Street analysts have given mixed ratings on Pinnacle Financial Partners, with an average target price of $118.30 and a consensus rating of "Hold."

Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $582,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,003,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $343,549,000 after purchasing an additional 286,894 shares in the last quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 1,940,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $221,917,000 after buying an additional 705,000 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 57.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,559,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $178,425,000 after acquiring an additional 566,061 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP boosted its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 913,936 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $104,545,000 after acquiring an additional 257,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 881,347 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $93,458,000 after purchasing an additional 32,975 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.40% of the company's stock.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Price Performance

Shares of PNFP traded up $2.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $89.55. 2,972,087 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,854,106. The company has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 1.03. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.57 and a 1 year high of $131.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $107.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $495.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Pinnacle Financial Partners's payout ratio is presently 12.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PNFP shares. Hovde Group lowered Pinnacle Financial Partners from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays dropped their price target on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $127.00 target price (up previously from $123.00) on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $118.30.

Insider Transactions at Pinnacle Financial Partners

In other Pinnacle Financial Partners news, Director G Kennedy Thompson bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $85.65 per share, for a total transaction of $856,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,372 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,061.80. This trade represents a 54.43% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas C. Farnsworth III bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $84.94 per share, with a total value of $84,940.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 28,277 shares in the company, valued at $2,401,848.38. The trade was a 3.67% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 12,174 shares of company stock worth $1,047,079. 1.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Company Profile

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.