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Pinnacle West's Focus on Investments & Clean Energy Bodes Well

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Pinnacle West Capital Corporation’s (PNW - Free Report) focus on expanding its renewable capacity along with systematic investments is likely to enhance its existing operations. Also, the utility’s efforts to minimize expenses amid the ongoing pandemic will aid its earnings.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings is pegged at $4.82 per share, indicating growth of 1.05% from the year-ago reported figure. Also, the consensus mark for current-year revenues stands at $3.5 billion, suggesting 0.92% growth from the prior-year reported number. Additionally, long-term (three-five years) earnings growth of the company is pegged at 4.70%.

The company currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In the past six months, shares of the utility have gained 12.6%, underperforming the industry’s rise of 24.5%.

What’s Driving the Stock?

Pinnacle West’s investments in clean power generation, and transmission & distribution lines will help it expand its customer base with more responsibility and better efficiency. The company projects capital expenditures of $1,331 million, $1,650 million and $1,725 million for 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. Moreover, through the implementation of new policies, the utility is reducing its Operations and Maintenance expenses as well as enhancing its customer benefits and shareholder value.

Apart from growing its utility infrastructure, Pinnacle West continues to focus on increasing its renewable strength. Under the Integrated Resource Plan, the company expects to add 2,894 megawatt of clean energy to its portfolio. Also, it announced its objective to deliver 100% clean carbon-free electricity to customers by 2050.

Likewise, other electric utilities are also making efforts to supply clean and reliable energy to its customers. Some of the companies, namely Duke Energy (DUK - Free Report) , DTE Energy (DTE - Free Report) and Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL - Free Report) are planning to provide absolute clean energy by 2050.

Headwinds

However, Pinnacle West’s progress could be hindered by fluctuations in commodity prices, stringent environmental regulations and unplanned outages in nuclear generation facilities.

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