Empirical Finance LLC Sells 263 Shares of Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW)

Empirical Finance LLC reduced its stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW) by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 263 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Pinnacle West Capital were worth $290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Pinnacle West Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 377.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in Pinnacle West Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Pinnacle West Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Pinnacle West Capital by 70.6% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Pinnacle West Capital

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PNW. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Pinnacle West Capital from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Pinnacle West Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Pinnacle West Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $83.50 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $81.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pinnacle West Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.95.

Pinnacle West Capital Trading Up 0.4 %

PNW opened at $87.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Pinnacle West Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $65.20 and a fifty-two week high of $89.39. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $82.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.50.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for 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 9.73%. Pinnacle West Capital’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Pinnacle West Capital Co. will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Pinnacle West Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. Pinnacle West Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.69%.

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.