Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW) Short Interest Up 30.7% in June

Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,810,000 shares, an increase of 30.7% from the May 31st total of 3,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 958,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PNW shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pinnacle West Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho lowered 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 note on Wednesday, March 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Pinnacle West Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $83.50 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Pinnacle West Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.71.

Pinnacle West Capital Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of PNW stock traded up $0.44 on Friday, hitting $76.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,861,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,163,854. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $76.22 and its 200-day moving average is $72.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.50. Pinnacle West Capital has a 52-week low of $65.20 and a 52-week high of $86.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.58.

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $951.71 million for 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%. Pinnacle West Capital’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.03) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Pinnacle West Capital will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Pinnacle West Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.61%. Pinnacle West Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pinnacle West Capital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PNW. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in Pinnacle West Capital by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 58,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,191,000 after buying an additional 31,821 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Pinnacle West Capital in the fourth quarter worth $977,000. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Pinnacle West Capital during the third quarter valued at $4,620,000. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital during the fourth quarter worth $1,422,000. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 172,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,397,000 after buying an additional 47,035 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.