Howard Capital Management Inc. Invests $312,000 in Pinnacle West Capital Corporation $PNW

Howard Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,464,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,377,759,000 after purchasing an additional 283,752 shares during the last quarter. ATLAS Infrastructure Partners UK Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 230.5% during the 1st quarter. ATLAS Infrastructure Partners UK Ltd. now owns 2,793,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $266,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948,416 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,509,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,781,000 after purchasing an additional 118,796 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,104,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $105,203,000 after purchasing an additional 110,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Pinnacle West Capital by 1.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,044,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,445,000 after purchasing an additional 12,857 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pinnacle West Capital Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE PNW opened at $89.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 9.23 and a beta of 0.46. Pinnacle West Capital Corporation has a 12-month low of $81.47 and a 12-month high of $96.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.58. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. Pinnacle West Capital had a net margin of 10.96% and a return on equity of 8.45%. Pinnacle West Capital’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pinnacle West Capital Corporation will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pinnacle West Capital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. This is a positive change from Pinnacle West Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Pinnacle West Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pinnacle West Capital news, EVP Jacob Tetlow sold 6,496 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.37, for a total transaction of $600,035.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 56 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,172.72. This represents a 99.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on PNW shares. Morgan Stanley set a $93.00 target price on Pinnacle West Capital and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Pinnacle West Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $100.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of Pinnacle West Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $90.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.69.

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.