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

Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in 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. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 489,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David B. Ingram sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total transaction of $5,060,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,991 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,185,361.50. This trade represents a 49.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Glenda Baskin Glover sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,009,711.65. The trade was a 23.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,350 shares of company stock valued at $11,421,320 over the last three months. 1.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 11.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,716,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $266,127,000 after buying an additional 282,016 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 689.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,932 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 19,153 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $916,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA bought a new position in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in the 3rd quarter worth $215,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 7.2% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,364 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.40% of the company's stock.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Price Performance

Shares of PNFP stock traded down $4.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $87.19. 1,694,770 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 486,343. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's fifty day moving average is $112.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.41. Pinnacle Financial Partners has a fifty-two week low of $73.62 and a fifty-two week high of $131.91.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP - Get Free Report) 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 the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $475.34 million for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pinnacle Financial Partners will post 7.85 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Pinnacle Financial Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Pinnacle Financial Partners's payout ratio is currently 16.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PNFP shares. Barclays raised Pinnacle Financial Partners from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group dropped 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 note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $142.00 target price on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.