Graham Capital Management L.P. Boosts Stock Position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Graham Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Free Report) by 448.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,829 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,305 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Pentair were worth $2,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Pentair by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,249 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pentair by 5.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 219,061 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $21,422,000 after purchasing an additional 11,392 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Pentair by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,343 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 1,068 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Pentair by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 35,826 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,606,000 after buying an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Pentair during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $989,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Pentair

In other news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pentair Trading Up 0.3%

PNR traded up $0.34 on Tuesday, reaching $98.50. 920,687 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,502,112. Pentair plc has a one year low of $72.63 and a one year high of $110.71. The company has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.10. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $988.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Pentair's payout ratio is 25.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PNR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Baird R W upgraded shares of Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Pentair from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup cut their target price on Pentair from $118.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com lowered Pentair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Pentair from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.93.

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.