Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Pentair currently carries a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" from 15 research firms, with 10 buys, 2 holds, and 3 sells; the average 12-month price target is about $107.86.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.22 versus estimates of $1.17 and revenue of $1.04 billion versus forecasts of $1.03 billion.
• Pentair also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, or $1.08 annually, which implies a 1.4% yield and a payout ratio of 26.47%.

Shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $107.8571.

PNR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 price target (down from $135.00) on shares of Pentair in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Pentair from $122.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $110.00 price target on Pentair in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Seaport Research Partners cut their price objective on Pentair from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Pentair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th.

Pentair Price Performance

NYSE:PNR opened at $75.28 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $87.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.47. The stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.10. Pentair has a 52 week low of $74.51 and a 52 week high of $113.95.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.03 billion. Pentair had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 15.98%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Pentair will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 24th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 24th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Pentair's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pentair

In other news, EVP Philip M. Rolchigo sold 6,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.22, for a total transaction of $670,207.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,096 shares in the company, valued at $3,003,289.12. This trade represents a 18.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avanza Fonder AB grew its position in Pentair by 142.1% in the fourth quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 38,940 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,055,000 after acquiring an additional 22,858 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Pentair by 173.6% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,837,753 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $311,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800,669 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Pentair by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,638,855 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $274,810,000 after acquiring an additional 305,166 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Pentair by 624.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 362,648 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $37,766,000 after acquiring an additional 312,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMC Chicago LLC purchased a new position in Pentair in the third quarter worth about $1,635,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

About Pentair

Pentair plc NYSE: PNR is a global provider of water treatment and fluid management solutions. The company designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of products that move, treat, monitor and control the flow of water and other fluids across residential, commercial, industrial and municipal markets. Pentair's offerings are focused on improving water quality, conserving resources and enabling efficient fluid handling in applications from household water systems and pools to large-scale industrial and municipal installations.

Product lines include pumps and pumping systems, water filtration and purification equipment, valves and controls, heat exchangers, pool and spa systems, and a range of aftermarket parts and services.

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