Short Interest in The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC) Decreases By 16.0%

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,450,000 shares, a decline of 16.0% from the April 15th total of 5,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

The PNC Financial Services Group Stock Up 0.9 %

PNC opened at $159.40 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $154.73 and a 200 day moving average of $146.68. The company has a market cap of $63.43 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.16. The PNC Financial Services Group has a 12 month low of $109.40 and a 12 month high of $162.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. The PNC Financial Services Group had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 11.64%. The PNC Financial Services Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The PNC Financial Services Group will post 12.62 EPS for the current year.

The PNC Financial Services Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. The PNC Financial Services Group’s payout ratio is 52.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The PNC Financial Services Group

In other The PNC Financial Services Group news, EVP Richard Kevin Bynum sold 850 shares of The PNC Financial Services Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.87, for a total value of $132,489.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $545,856.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in The PNC Financial Services Group in the 1st quarter valued at $243,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in The PNC Financial Services Group by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 287,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,400,000 after purchasing an additional 87,621 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl raised its position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 122.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 15,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,572,000 after buying an additional 8,760 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Inc. CA raised its position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 10,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,659,000 after buying an additional 2,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of The PNC Financial Services Group by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,818,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,556,195,000 after buying an additional 78,407 shares in the last quarter. 83.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $184.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $142.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $171.00 to $162.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of The PNC Financial Services Group from $185.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.02.

The PNC Financial Services Group Company Profile

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc operates as a diversified financial services company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Corporate & Institutional Banking, and Asset Management Group segments. The company's Retail Banking segment offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, auto loans, credit cards, education loans, and personal and small business loans and lines of credit; and brokerage, insurance, and investment and cash management services.