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

Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) was the recipient of a significant 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 489,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ PNFP traded up $2.12 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $106.87. 473,391 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 476,909. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $114.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.53. The stock has a market cap of $8.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87 and a beta of 0.94. Pinnacle Financial Partners has a 1 year low of $73.62 and a 1 year high of $131.91. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $475.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $470.33 million. Pinnacle Financial Partners had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 15.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pinnacle Financial Partners will post 7.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This is an increase from Pinnacle Financial Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Robert A. Mccabe, Jr. sold 40,000 shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.81, for a total transaction of $4,552,400.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 83,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,446,230. This trade represents a 32.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David B. Ingram sold 10,309 shares of the business’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 directly owns 82,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,364,256. This trade represents a 11.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,350 shares of company stock worth $11,421,320. Company insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pinnacle Financial Partners

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,798,000. North Reef Capital Management LP grew its position in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 1,940,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,917,000 after purchasing an additional 705,000 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $78,110,000. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners during the third quarter worth about $64,326,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 57.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,559,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,425,000 after acquiring an additional 566,061 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PNFP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on 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. Barclays upgraded Pinnacle Financial Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $120.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. 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 target on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $142.00 price target on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Hovde Group lowered their price objective on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.82.

About Pinnacle Financial Partners

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.