Morgan Stanley Raises Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) Price Target to $83.00

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $78.00 to $83.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Pinnacle West Capital in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Pinnacle West Capital from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Pinnacle West Capital from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $83.50 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $80.54.

Pinnacle West Capital Stock Performance

PNW opened at $88.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.48. Pinnacle West Capital has a 1 year low of $65.20 and a 1 year high of $91.57. The stock has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.52.

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Pinnacle West Capital had a net margin of 12.65% and a return on equity of 9.75%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pinnacle West Capital will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pinnacle West Capital

In other Pinnacle West Capital news, EVP Robert Edgar Smith sold 4,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total value of $424,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $548,862.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 97.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,851,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $960,425,000 after purchasing an additional 6,344,121 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 24.6% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,985,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $533,562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,368 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 72.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,719,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $502,139,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828,450 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital during the first quarter worth about $198,409,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,205,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,625,000 after purchasing an additional 29,767 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

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.