Teacher Retirement System of Texas Invests $367,000 in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PNFP. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Pinnacle Financial Partners during the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,326,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,737,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 11.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,716,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $266,127,000 after acquiring an additional 282,016 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners during the third quarter worth approximately $21,576,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 27.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 983,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,332,000 after purchasing an additional 208,938 shares during the period. 87.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PNFP opened at $106.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.46. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.62 and a 52 week 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. The company has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73 and a beta of 1.09.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) last released its 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. Pinnacle Financial Partners had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 15.48%. The company had revenue of $475.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $470.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is a boost from Pinnacle Financial Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s payout ratio is 16.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Pinnacle Financial Partners news, Director David B. Ingram sold 40,000 shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 40,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,185,361.50. This trade represents a 49.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO M Terry Turner sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.63, for a total transaction of $201,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,552 shares in the company, valued at $25,615,567.76. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PNFP. Barclays upgraded Pinnacle Financial Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $120.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $142.00 price target on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $133.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pinnacle Financial Partners presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.18.

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.