The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) Upgraded to “Buy” by UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $179.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $165.00.

PNC has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on The PNC Financial Services Group from $163.50 to $163.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an underperform rating and set a $152.00 target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $180.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. HSBC upgraded shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from a reduce rating to a hold rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $141.00 to $155.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on The PNC Financial Services Group from $151.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $159.63.

The PNC Financial Services Group Stock Performance

The PNC Financial Services Group stock opened at $168.30 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market cap of $66.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.15. The PNC Financial Services Group has a 12-month low of $109.40 and a 12-month high of $169.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $155.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.43.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. The PNC Financial Services Group had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 11.64%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.98 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The PNC Financial Services Group will post 12.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. This is a positive change from The PNC Financial Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The PNC Financial Services Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO William S. Demchak sold 641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.08, for a total value of $98,124.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 567,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,900,760.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other The PNC Financial Services Group news, EVP Richard Kevin Bynum sold 850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.87, for a total transaction of $132,489.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,502 shares in the company, valued at $545,856.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO William S. Demchak sold 641 shares of The PNC Financial Services Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.08, for a total transaction of $98,124.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 567,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,900,760.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,177 shares of company stock valued at $814,791 over the last ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The PNC Financial Services Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PNC. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC increased its position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 350.0% during the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.53% of the company’s stock.

About The PNC Financial Services Group

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc operates as a diversified financial services company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Corporate & Institutional Banking, and Asset Management Group segments. The company's Retail Banking segment offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, auto loans, credit cards, education loans, and personal and small business loans and lines of credit; and brokerage, insurance, and investment and cash management services.