KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New Investment in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 15,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in the 3rd quarter worth about $70,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 12.7% during 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. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners during the fourth quarter worth approximately $97,000. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. bought a new position in Pinnacle Financial Partners in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $137,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on PNFP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $135.00 target price (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $120.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. 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.com, Pinnacle Financial Partners presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.18.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Trading Down 1.2 %

Pinnacle Financial Partners stock opened at $107.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96 and a beta of 1.09. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.62 and a 1 year high of $131.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $114.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 15.48%. The business had revenue of $475.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $470.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. will post 7.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Pinnacle Financial Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO M Terry Turner sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.63, for a total value of $201,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,615,567.76. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David B. Ingram sold 10,309 shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners 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 transaction, the director now owns 82,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,364,256. The trade was a 11.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,350 shares of company stock worth $11,421,320 over the last ninety days. 1.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.