Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Grows Stock Position in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) by 180.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,525 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 36,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,141,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, TBH Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 5,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. 87.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Pinnacle Financial Partners in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $133.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised Pinnacle Financial Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pinnacle Financial Partners has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pinnacle Financial Partners

In other news, CEO M Terry Turner sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.63, for a total value of $201,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,552 shares in the company, valued at $25,615,567.76. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Glenda Baskin Glover sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total value of $304,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,009,711.65. This trade represents a 23.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 95,350 shares of company stock valued at $11,421,320. Company insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of PNFP opened at $105.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.62 and a 12 month high of $131.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $115.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.64. The firm has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 1.09.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.10. Pinnacle Financial Partners had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 15.48%. The company had revenue of $475.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $470.33 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Pinnacle Financial Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.05%.

Pinnacle Financial Partners 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.