Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 2,932 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 disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 2,932 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PNR. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in Pentair by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,628 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Pentair by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,194 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Pentair by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 916 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Pentair by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,369 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Pentair by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 12,094 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.94, for a total value of $589,826.52. Following the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Pentair Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:PNR traded down $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $96.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,252,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,512,461. Pentair plc has a 1-year low of $72.63 and a 1-year high of $110.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $15.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.41.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.10. The business 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Pentair plc will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Pentair's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PNR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Pentair from $118.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Pentair from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Baird R W raised Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $95.00 price target on shares of Pentair and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Pentair from $114.00 to $107.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pentair has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target 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.