CenterBook Partners LP Takes $2.35 Million Position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners LP has acquired 26,806 shares of Pentair plc, valued at approximately $2,345,000, during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in Pentair, with hedge funds owning 92.37% of the company's stock.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Pentair, with most ratings being "outperform" and the average target price now at $114.36.

CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 26,806 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,345,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PNR. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Pentair by 4,231.6% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 622,185 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $54,429,000 after acquiring an additional 607,821 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Pentair by 229.1% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 786,362 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $68,791,000 after acquiring an additional 547,419 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Pentair by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,962,263 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $197,482,000 after acquiring an additional 428,184 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Pentair by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,101,253 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $614,030,000 after acquiring an additional 396,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Pentair by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,283,164 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $129,137,000 after acquiring an additional 346,843 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pentair Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:PNR traded up $0.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $102.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,146,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,013,114. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.45. Pentair plc has a fifty-two week low of $74.25 and a fifty-two week high of $110.71. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $102.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.58. The company has a market capitalization of $16.84 billion, a PE ratio of 28.07, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.07.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Pentair had a return on equity of 21.62% and a net margin of 14.86%. Pentair's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pentair plc will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Pentair from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Pentair from $118.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Pentair from $107.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut Pentair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.36.

Pentair Company Profile

Pentair plc provides various water solutions in the United States, Western Europe, China, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, Canada, and Japan. The company operates through three segments: Flow, Water Solutions, and Pool. The Flow segment designs, manufactures, and sells fluid treatment and pump products and systems, including pressure vessels, gas recovery solutions, membrane bioreactors, wastewater reuse systems and advanced membrane filtration, separation systems, water disposal pumps, water supply pumps, fluid transfer pumps, turbine pumps, solid handling pumps, and agricultural spray nozzles for fluid delivery, ion exchange, desalination, food and beverage, separation technologies in the oil and gas industry, residential and municipal wells, water treatment, wastewater solids handling, pressure boosting, circulation and transfer, fire suppression, flood control, agricultural irrigation, and crop spray in residential, commercial, and industrial markets.