Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Decreases Stake in Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW) by 14.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 625,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 108,793 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.55% of Pinnacle West Capital worth $46,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PNW. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 97.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,851,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $960,425,000 after purchasing an additional 6,344,121 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $112,914,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,205,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,625,000 after acquiring an additional 29,767 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 991,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,220,000 after acquiring an additional 28,178 shares during the period. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Pinnacle West Capital by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 969,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,426,000 after purchasing an additional 154,867 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PNW has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Pinnacle West Capital in a research report on Monday, April 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $81.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pinnacle West Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Pinnacle West Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $83.50 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Pinnacle West Capital from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pinnacle West Capital has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.77.

Pinnacle West Capital Stock Performance

NYSE:PNW traded up $1.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $84.71. 492,949 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 901,571. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $77.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.88. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $65.20 and a twelve month high of $85.00.

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Pinnacle West Capital had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 8.29%. The company had revenue of $951.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $981.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.03) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Pinnacle West Capital Co. will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pinnacle West Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Pinnacle West Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.69%.

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.