Man Group plc Boosts Holdings in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Man Group plc boosted its stake in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Free Report) by 72.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 181,875 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 76,564 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.11% of Pentair worth $18,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PNR. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pentair during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in Pentair by 753.8% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 333 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in Pentair by 230.8% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 344 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pentair during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pentair during the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Pentair

In related 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 shares were sold at an average price of $89.94, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Pentair Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PNR traded up $0.22 on Thursday, hitting $97.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 210,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,504,378. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.41 and a 200-day moving average of $96.46. The company has a market capitalization of $16.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.38 million. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 15.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Pentair plc will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

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 given 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on PNR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Pentair from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $95.00 target price on Pentair and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Pentair from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Northcoast Research upgraded Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Pentair from $118.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pentair currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $107.14.

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.