Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,932 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Pentair by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 809 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Pentair in the fourth quarter worth about $289,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Pentair in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,568,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Pentair by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 23,712 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,386,000 after buying an additional 4,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Q3 Asset Management bought a new stake in Pentair during the 4th quarter valued at $320,000. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.94, for a total transaction of $589,826.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,366,591.22. This represents a 19.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Pentair Price Performance

NYSE PNR traded down $1.04 on Tuesday, reaching $99.78. 1,048,878 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,507,199. The stock has a market cap of $16.42 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.11. Pentair plc has a 12 month low of $72.63 and a 12 month high of $110.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $988.38 million. Pentair had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 20.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Pentair plc will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Pentair's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PNR. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Pentair from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $95.00 price objective on Pentair and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Pentair from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Pentair from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Pentair in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.14.

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.