The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on The PNC Financial Services Group from $151.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. HSBC upgraded shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from a reduce rating to a hold rating and boosted their target price for the company from $141.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $184.00 to $175.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $171.00 to $162.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $142.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $156.63.

The PNC Financial Services Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of PNC stock opened at $147.82 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $151.80 and a 200-day moving average of $141.72. The stock has a market cap of $58.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.18. The PNC Financial Services Group has a 52-week low of $109.40 and a 52-week high of $162.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.85.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. The PNC Financial Services Group had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 11.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The PNC Financial Services Group will post 12.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The PNC Financial Services Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael J. Hannon sold 3,000 shares of The PNC Financial Services Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.82, for a total value of $446,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,570 shares in the company, valued at $5,442,347.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 0.5% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 16,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,135,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 68.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc. increased its holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group by 9.1% in the first quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC lifted its stake in The PNC Financial Services Group by 137.9% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 21,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after buying an additional 12,201 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.53% of the company’s stock.

About The PNC Financial Services Group

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc operates as a diversified financial services company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Corporate & Institutional Banking, and Asset Management Group segments. The company's Retail Banking segment offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, auto loans, credit cards, education loans, and personal and small business loans and lines of credit; and brokerage, insurance, and investment and cash management services.