Pinnacle West Capital

Pinnacle West Capital is a utility holding company that owns Arizona Public Service and Bright Canyon Energy. It is publicly traded on the New York Stock exchange and a component of the S&P 500 stock market index.

Pinnacle West Capital Corporation
TypePublic company
NYSE: PNW
S&P 500 Component
ISINUS7234841010
IndustryElectric utilities
Founded1985
HeadquartersPhoenix, Arizona, USA
Key people
Donald E. Brandt, Chairman & CEO
Revenue$3.565 billion US$ (2017) [1]
$934 million US$ (2017) [1]
$508 million US$ (2017) [1]
Number of employees
6,292[1] (2017)
Websitewww.pinnaclewest.com

History

In February 1985, Arizona Public Service Company reorganized as a holding company, AZP Group Inc., with APS as the leading subsidiary.[2] It traded under the ticker symbol AZP. 1985 earnings reached a new record high at almost US$290 million, and by the end of the year the stock price had doubled from its 1984 low.[3]

In 1987, AZP Group changed its name to Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, and began trading under the new ticker symbol PNW. The utility continued to operate as its principal subsidiary.[2] By then Pinnacle's long-term debt had grown to almost US$2.4 billion. Earnings had declined to US$260 million in 1986, but were recovering by the end 1987. However, the stock price reached an all-time peak that year, which was not surpassed for the next decade, as the company ran into troubles through the early 1990s.[3] In 1986, Pinnacle acquired MeraBank, a savings and loan. It grew to become Arizona's largest thrift, with $6.5 billion in assets. However, the thrift was seized by federal regulators in January 1990, due in part to the deterioration in prices in the Arizona real estate market.[4][5]

By 1990, the company's earnings had fallen to under US$100 million, as it struggled through the 1990-1991 recession, as well as a series of failed attempts to diversify. By 1991, the company was facing a loss of almost US$190 million, and discontinued paying its dividend. APS and its predecessors had paid a dividend without interruption since 1920. The stock price plunged 85% from its 1987 peak, to its lowest level in over twenty years. Its long-term debt by then reached over US$2.5 billion.[3]

However, by 1992, the company returned to profitability, as earnings recovered to over US$150 million. The stock price tripled from its 1991 low by the end of 1993. The company reinstated its dividend that year.[3]

By 1995, Pinnacle West Capital had been added to the S&P MidCap 400 index. That year, earnings surpassed US$200 million again, and by early the next year the stock price began approaching its old 1987 high. Also in 1995, the utility subsidiary Arizona Public Services issued 30-year Monthly Income Debt Securities paying 10%.[3]

References
  1. 2017 10-K
  2. Compilation of Investor-Owned Utility Transactions – Holding Companies Established Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, American Public Power Association, (updated 09-03)
  3. Standard & Poor's Stock Guide, various issues
  4. U.S. Seizes Arizona's Biggest Savings Institution New York Times February 1, 1990
  5. A Reckoning for the Utility High Rollers New York Times July 29, 1990

Official website

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