Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Takes $20.93 Million Position in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. $PNFP

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 189,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,932,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 5.9% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,592,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,873,000 after purchasing an additional 88,282 shares in the last quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 1,076,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,908,000 after buying an additional 23,552 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Pinnacle Financial Partners in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $113,461,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 3.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,010,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,561,000 after acquiring an additional 31,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 9.2% during the first quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 998,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,878,000 after purchasing an additional 84,538 shares during the period. 87.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PNFP. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $104.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Bank of America started coverage on Pinnacle Financial Partners in a report on Monday, December 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $113.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Pinnacle Financial Partners in a report on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $122.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Robert A. Mccabe, Jr. sold 6,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total value of $630,075.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 202,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,832,965. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director G Kennedy Thompson purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $87.63 per share, with a total value of $438,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 33,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,924,388.36. This trade represents a 17.62% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:PNFP opened at $99.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.06. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. has a one year low of $81.57 and a one year high of $127.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.36.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.22. Pinnacle Financial Partners had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 19.17%.The firm had revenue of $544.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $526.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. will post 7.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.20%.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Company Profile

Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as the bank holding company for Pinnacle Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and professional entities in the United States. The company accepts various deposits, including savings, noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing checking, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts; and provides treasury management services, which includes online wire origination, enhanced ACH origination services, positive pay, zero balance and sweep accounts, automated bill pay services, electronic receivables processing, lockbox processing, and merchant card acceptance services.