Short Interest in Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW) Expands By 16.9%

Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,530,000 shares, an increase of 16.9% from the January 15th total of 3,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pinnacle West Capital

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,180,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,202,116,000 after acquiring an additional 143,716 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in Pinnacle West Capital by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,864,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $581,945,000 after purchasing an additional 37,768 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Pinnacle West Capital by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,404,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $567,394,000 after purchasing an additional 56,644 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,298,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $364,342,000 after buying an additional 1,045,788 shares during the period. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 5.7% during the third quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,899,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,882,000 after buying an additional 155,466 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PNW. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Pinnacle West Capital from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Pinnacle West Capital from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays downgraded Pinnacle West Capital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on Pinnacle West Capital from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pinnacle West Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.21.

Pinnacle West Capital Stock Performance

Shares of PNW stock traded up $0.02 on Monday, hitting $89.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,003,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 986,817. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $10.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $86.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.88. Pinnacle West Capital has a twelve month low of $66.77 and a twelve month high of $95.42.

Pinnacle West Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.895 dividend. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Pinnacle West Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.80%.

Pinnacle West Capital Company Profile

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.