Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) recently upgraded credit and preferred shares ratings for Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (Nasdaq/NGS: PNFP), affirming the firm’s strategic business model and navigation of the pandemic.

In a press release, KBRA announced the upgrade of Pinnacle Financial Partners’ senior unsecured credit rating to A- (from BBB+). Likewise, the subordinated debt rating was upgraded to BBB+ (from BBB). These ratings place Pinnacle at the upper end of KBRA’s rated bank universe.

In the same release, KBRA announced upgrades to Pinnacle’s preferred shares rating to BBB (from BBB-) and affirmed the firm’s short-term debt rating of K2.

Within the report, KBRA highlighted a clearly defined and well-executed growth strategy under the veteran leadership team, which has produced meaningfully increased scale and diversification of the franchise in recent years.

KBRA analysts noted: “Also key to the rating upgrade is PNFP’s measured risk appetite and focus on credit discipline that has supported healthy asset quality performance over time.”

Commenting on the upgrade, Pinnacle CEO Terry Turner highlighted a key non-financial factor: culture.

“Distinctive service, trust and ease of doing business are most important in a time of crisis,” Turner said. “Those are the real difference makers, and that’s what Pinnacle delivered during the pandemic and related economic uncertainty. We helped and got results for our clients because of the relentless focus on culture that’s been present since we were founded. It’s an abstract concept that’s impossible to find on a balance sheet or P&L statement but is essential to the success we’ve had.”

The Kroll release, disclosures and additional information on rating categories are on their website.

Press Release:

KBRA Upgrades Ratings for Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc.

Surveillance Report:

Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. Surveillance Report (kbra.com)

Pinnacle Financial Partners provides a full range of banking, investment, trust, mortgage and insurance products and services designed for businesses and their owners and individuals interested in a comprehensive relationship with their financial institution. The firm is the No. 1 bank in the Nashville-Murfreesboro-Franklin MSA, according to 2020 deposit data from the FDIC. Pinnacle earned a spot on the 2021 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For^® in the U.S., its fifth consecutive appearance. American Banker recognized Pinnacle as one of America’s Best Banks to Work For eight years in a row and No. 1 among banks with more than $10 billion in assets in 2020.

Pinnacle owns a 49 percent interest in Bankers Healthcare Group (BHG), which provides innovative, hassle-free financial solutions to healthcare practitioners and other licensed professionals. Great Place to Work and FORTUNE ranked BHG No. 1 on its 2020 list of Best Workplaces in New York State in the small/medium business category.

The firm began operations in a single location in downtown Nashville, TN in October 2000 and has since grown to approximately $35.3 billion in assets as of March 31, 2021. As the second-largest bank holding company headquartered in Tennessee, Pinnacle operates in 12 primarily urban markets across the Southeast.

Additional information concerning Pinnacle, which is included in the Nasdaq Financial-100 Index, can be accessed at www.pnfp.com.

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