Pentair (NYSE:PNR) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $78.96, but opened at $85.13. Pentair shares last traded at $84.83, with a volume of 258,108 shares traded.

The industrial products company reported $1.11 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $988.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 EPS.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Pentair's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PNR. Northcoast Research raised shares of Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut Pentair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Pentair from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Pentair from $114.00 to $107.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Pentair from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.93.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pentair

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PNR. Moody National Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Pentair in the fourth quarter valued at $989,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Pentair during the 4th quarter worth about $289,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Pentair during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,568,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Pentair by 22.2% in the fourth 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. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pentair Trading Down 0.2 %

The company's fifty day moving average price is $86.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.13.

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.