Evercore ISI cut shares of Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday, The Fly reports.

Shares of Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) traded up 2.13% during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $66.05. 402,264 shares of the company traded hands. Pinnacle West Capital has a 12-month low of $56.01 and a 12-month high of $71.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $63.82 and its 200 day moving average is $62.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion and a P/E ratio of 18.33.

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Pinnacle West Capital will post $3.80 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 1st will be given a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 28th. This is an increase from Pinnacle West Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55.

In related news, COO Mark A. Schiavoni sold 4,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.70, for a total transaction of $267,716.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 21,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,198.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David P. Falck sold 6,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.82, for a total transaction of $403,492.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 40,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,528,128.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

A number of hedge funds and institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PNW. Hexavest Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 8,178.4% in the fourth quarter. Hexavest Inc. now owns 390,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,211,000 after buying an additional 386,266 shares in the last quarter. Churchill Management boosted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Churchill Management now owns 149,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,634,000 after buying an additional 18,493 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 105,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,805,000 after buying an additional 9,900 shares in the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings boosted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings now owns 89,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,787,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, James Investment Research Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. James Investment Research Inc. now owns 60,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,920,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. SunTrust lowered their price objective on shares of Pinnacle West Capital from $64.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, November 30th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Pinnacle West Capital from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays restated a hold rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (up previously from $63.00) on shares of Pinnacle West Capital in a research report on Monday, January 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $64.30.

Pinnacle West Capital Corporation is a holding company that operates primarily through its wholly owned subsidiaries is engaged in regulated retail and wholesale electricity businesses. The Company’s operations primarily include electricity generation, transmission and distribution. The Company’s subsidiaries include Arizona Public Service Company (NYSE:PNW), a vertically integrated electric utility that provides either retail or wholesale electric service to the State of Arizona, with the exceptions of about one-half of the Phoenix metropolitan area, the Tucson metropolitan area and Mohave County in northwestern Arizona; El Dorado Investment Company (El Dorado) and Bright Canyon Energy Corporation (BCE). APS provides electric service to approximately 1.2 million customers. APS has ownership interests in or leases the coal, nuclear, gas, oil and solar generating facilities.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:PNW

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