Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Pinnacle Financial Partners' shares gapped down significantly from a closing price of $104.16 to an opening price of $92.51 following a downgrade by Wells Fargo, which lowered the target price from $125.00 to $110.00.
• Despite the downgrade, several analysts have maintained a positive outlook, with Jefferies setting a "buy" rating with a price target of $135.00 and Truist Financial raising their target to $127.00.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.00, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.92, and a year-over-year revenue increase of 15.1% to $504.99 million.
• Pinnacle Financial Partners has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.05% with a payout ratio of 12.73%.

Shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $110.00. The stock had previously closed at $104.16, but opened at $92.51. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Pinnacle Financial Partners shares last traded at $90.08, with a volume of 1,505,910 shares trading hands.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on PNFP. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $127.00 price objective (up previously from $123.00) on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Hovde Group raised shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $128.10.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pinnacle Financial Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PNFP. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $367,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 33,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,869,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,796,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 28,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,232,000 after acquiring an additional 8,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,200,386 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $823,652,000 after acquiring an additional 87,058 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.40% of the company's stock.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Price Performance

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's 50-day simple moving average is $110.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.34. The company has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 1.01.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $504.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $495.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. Pinnacle Financial Partners's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. will post 7.85 EPS for the current year.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Pinnacle Financial Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.73%.

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.

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