Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Acquires 70,600 Shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Free Report) by 46.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 222,600 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 70,600 shares during the period. Pentair comprises approximately 0.7% of Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned 0.13% of Pentair worth $22,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PNR. Franklin Resources Inc. raised 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 valued at $3,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Pentair by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 219,061 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $21,422,000 after acquiring an additional 11,392 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Pentair by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 35,826 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Pentair in the 4th quarter valued at about $989,000. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its stake in Pentair by 144.9% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 507 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Baird R W upgraded Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Pentair from $118.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Pentair from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Northcoast Research raised Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $100.00 target price on Pentair in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pentair currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pentair 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,366,591.22. This represents a 19.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Pentair Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE PNR opened at $93.52 on Monday. Pentair plc has a 12 month low of $72.63 and a 12 month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $15.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $86.52 and a 200-day moving average of $96.43.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Pentair plc will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Pentair's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.84%.

About Pentair

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.