Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Acquires 4,725 Shares of Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW) by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,725 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Pinnacle West Capital were worth $4,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Pinnacle West Capital by 97.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,851,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $960,425,000 after purchasing an additional 6,344,121 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 72.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,719,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $502,139,000 after buying an additional 2,828,450 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $198,409,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Pinnacle West Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,914,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 31.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 845,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,550,000 after acquiring an additional 200,816 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Pinnacle West Capital from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Pinnacle West Capital from $81.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Pinnacle West Capital from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pinnacle West Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Pinnacle West Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $83.50 in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $424,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 available at this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pinnacle West Capital Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:PNW opened at $90.28 on Friday. Pinnacle West Capital Co. has a one year low of $65.20 and a one year high of $91.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $86.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

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. Pinnacle West Capital had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 12.65%. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pinnacle West Capital Co. will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

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.