Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $106.93.

PNR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Pentair and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Pentair from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Pentair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Pentair from $114.00 to $107.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of Pentair stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were 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 $2,366,591.22. This trade represents a 19.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PNR. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Pentair during the third quarter valued at about $302,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Pentair in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $117,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Pentair by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,411,000 after buying an additional 3,752 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pentair by 3.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,249 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,187,000 after buying an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $21,422,000 after acquiring an additional 11,392 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pentair Stock Performance

Shares of PNR opened at $93.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm's 50 day moving average is $86.48 and its 200-day moving average is $96.68. Pentair has a 12-month low of $72.63 and a 12-month high of $110.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.13.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.38 million. Pentair had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 20.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pentair will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. Pentair's payout ratio is 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.

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