PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) (NYSE:PNC) Upgraded to Buy at Zacks Investment Research

PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) (NYSE:PNC) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday. The firm currently has a $143.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. Zacks Investment Research‘s price target points to a potential upside of 12.01% from the stock’s previous close.

According to Zacks, “PNC Financial’s shares outperformed the industry, over the last one year. The company’s second-quarter 2017 earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Higher revenues aided by loan growth was recorded. Though expenses escalated in the quarter, we remain encouraged by the company’s efforts to generate positive operating leverage through its cost-saving initiatives. Further, its deal to acquire the commercial and vendor finance business of ECN Capital is anticipated to be marginally accretive to earnings in 2017. Also, ease of regulations is likely to support profitability. In addition, the company increased its prime lending rate to 4.25% following the latest Fed rate hike with easing margin pressure. Notably, following Fed's approval of 2017 capital plan, the company hiked its quarterly dividend by 36%.”

PNC has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays PLC upped their price objective on shares of PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. BidaskClub downgraded shares of PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 24th. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) in a report on Monday, April 17th. Rafferty Capital Markets raised shares of PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $126.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) in a report on Monday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.62.

Shares of PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (PNC) traded down 0.13% during trading on Friday, reaching $127.50. 937,863 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $124.85 and a 200 day moving average of $122.34. PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.35 and a 52-week high of $131.83.

PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) (NYSE:PNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.97 billion. PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) had a net margin of 24.50% and a return on equity of 9.17%. PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The)’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. will post $8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 28th that allows the company to buyback $2.70 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

In other news, insider Wyk Steven C. Van sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.31, for a total transaction of $641,550.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael J. Hannon sold 24,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.45, for a total transaction of $3,048,835.95. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 83,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,613,074.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) during the fourth quarter worth about $1,951,000. Philadelphia Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Philadelphia Trust Co. now owns 7,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $842,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH boosted its stake in shares of PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) by 2.5% in the first quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 21,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,545,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) during the first quarter worth about $204,000. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) by 2.9% in the first quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 470,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,515,000 after buying an additional 13,381 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

About PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (The)

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc is a diversified financial services company. The Company has businesses engaged in retail banking, including residential mortgage, corporate and institutional banking and asset management. The Company operates through four segments: Retail Banking, Corporate & Institutional Banking, Asset Management Group, and BlackRock.