Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (PNW), headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, provides retail and wholesale electric services. Valued at $12.4 billion by market cap, the company provides retail and wholesale electric service to most of the State of Arizona. PNW is also involved in real estate development activities in the western U.S.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap stocks,” and PNW perfectly fits that description, with its market cap exceeding this mark, underscoring its size, influence, and dominance within the utilities - regulated electric industry. PNW invests heavily in clean energy. Its half of Arizona Public Service's electricity comes from clean energy, positioning PNW favorably in the market and aligning with regulatory requirements and consumer preferences.
Despite its notable strength, PNW slipped 2.5% from its 52-week high of $105.08, achieved on Jun. 16. Over the past three months, PNW stock gained 5.3%, outperforming the State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF’s (XLU) marginal gains during the same time frame.
Shares of PNW rose 15.5% this year and climbed 15.7% over the past 52 weeks, outperforming XLU’s YTD gains of 4.8% and 10.7% returns over the same time frame.
To confirm the bullish trend, PNW has been trading above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages since early January, with slight fluctuations.
On May 4, PNW shares closed down by 1.7% after reporting its Q1 results. Its revenue stood at $1.1 billion, up 11.4% year over year. The company’s EPS came in at $0.27, compared to loss per share of $0.04 from the year-ago quarter.
In the competitive arena of utilities - regulated electric, Evergy, Inc. (EVRG) has taken the lead over PNW, showing resilience with 23.9% gains over the past 52 weeks, but lagged behind the stock with 14.8% returns on a YTD basis.
Wall Street analysts are reasonably bullish on PNW’s prospects. The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from the 18 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $104.13 suggests a potential upside of 1.7% from current price levels.
