Short Interest in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) Rises By 25.8%

Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,510,000 shares, an increase of 25.8% from the February 28th total of 1,200,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 489,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Insider Activity at Pinnacle Financial Partners

In related news, Director David B. Ingram sold 10,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.00, for a total transaction of $1,298,934.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 82,256 shares in the company, valued at $10,364,256. This represents a 11.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Glenda Baskin Glover sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.55, for a total transaction of $304,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,009,711.65. This represents a 23.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,350 shares of company stock worth $11,421,320 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pinnacle Financial Partners

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. KBC Group NV increased its position in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 1,054.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,057,000 after buying an additional 24,407 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 482,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,213,000 after acquiring an additional 12,455 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,328,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,192,000 after acquiring an additional 8,604 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 101,563.6% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 22,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,558,000 after acquiring an additional 22,344 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 27.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 983,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,332,000 after purchasing an additional 208,938 shares in the last quarter. 87.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PNFP. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $135.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group started coverage on Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $133.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six equities research 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.18.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PNFP traded down $1.29 on Tuesday, hitting $104.75. The stock had a trading volume of 559,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 476,472. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.46. The stock has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52 and a beta of 1.09. Pinnacle Financial Partners has a 52-week low of $73.62 and a 52-week high of $131.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

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

Pinnacle Financial Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. This is a positive change from Pinnacle Financial Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 16.05%.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Company 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.