Short Interest in Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW) Decreases By 14.2%

Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,500,000 shares, a drop of 14.2% from the December 15th total of 4,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Pinnacle West Capital Trading Up 2.5 %

PNW opened at $86.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.56. Pinnacle West Capital has a 12 month low of $65.20 and a 12 month high of $95.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $88.23 and a 200 day moving average of $86.78.

Pinnacle West Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.895 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. Pinnacle West Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in Pinnacle West Capital by 24.6% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,985,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $533,562,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,368 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Pinnacle West Capital by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,404,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $567,394,000 after purchasing an additional 56,644 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its stake in Pinnacle West Capital by 5.7% in the third quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,899,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,882,000 after purchasing an additional 155,466 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Pinnacle West Capital by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,028,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,078,000 after purchasing an additional 5,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Pinnacle West Capital by 2.0% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 973,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,230,000 after purchasing an additional 18,673 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PNW shares. Barclays lowered Pinnacle West Capital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Pinnacle West Capital from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. KeyCorp upgraded Pinnacle West Capital from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Pinnacle West Capital from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Pinnacle West Capital from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.65.

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.