Benzinga - by Priya Nigam, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE: PNW) shares were climbing in early trading on Monday.
The improving regulatory environment in Arizona could drive and improve the company’s earnings and growth outlook “through the end of the decade,” according to BofA Securities.
The Pinnacle West Capital Analyst: Julien Dumoulin-Smith upgraded the rating for Pinnacle West Capital from Neutral to Buy, while raising the price target from $71 to $80.
The Pinnacle West Capital Thesis: The Arizona Corporation Commission’s (ACC) moves and the proposed change in test year could address the company’s “long-standing regulatory lag and underearning issues,” Dumoulin-Smith said in the upgrade note.
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The ACC’s investigations could conclude and a decision passed by yearend, the analyst said. “We believe this process will yield a positive result and reflect a +40bp improvement in earned returns for PNW YoY in 2026 (~8.5% vs. ~8.1%),” he added.
“With this change, the gap between earned and allowed returns (9.85%) should continue to narrow, allowing EPS to grow faster than rate base,” Dumoulin-Smith further wrote.
PNW Price Action: Shares of Pinnacle West Capital had risen by 2.21% to $72.56 at the time of publication on Monday.
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Latest Ratings for PNW
| Mar 2022 | Evercore ISI Group | Downgrades | In-Line | Underperform |
| Mar 2022 | Mizuho | Maintains | Neutral | |
| Feb 2022 | Wells Fargo | Maintains | Equal-Weight |
View the Latest Analyst Ratings
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