BNP Paribas Financial Markets Boosts Stake in Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW - Free Report) by 494.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 197,905 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 164,625 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.17% of Pinnacle West Capital worth $14,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 26.0% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 4,649 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 959 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital during the 3rd quarter worth $275,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 59.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 57,727 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,253,000 after buying an additional 21,526 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Pinnacle West Capital by 19.1% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 38,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,841,000 after buying an additional 6,173 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its holdings in Pinnacle West Capital by 7.3% during the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 5,860 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PNW shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America upgraded Pinnacle West Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $71.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Guggenheim upgraded Pinnacle West Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Pinnacle West Capital from $76.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.08.

Pinnacle West Capital Price Performance

NYSE:PNW traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $77.82. The stock had a trading volume of 478,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,263,542. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.48. Pinnacle West Capital Co. has a one year low of $65.20 and a one year high of $86.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $951.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $981.82 million. Pinnacle West Capital had a return on equity of 8.29% and a net margin of 11.09%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Pinnacle West Capital Co. will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pinnacle West Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. Pinnacle West Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.69%.

About Pinnacle West Capital

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.