Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Short Interest Down 18.9% in May

Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,920,000 shares, a decline of 18.9% from the April 30th total of 3,600,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,680,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Pentair Stock Up 0.3%

PNR traded up $0.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $99.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,030,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,544,333. 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 company has a market capitalization of $16.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's 50 day moving average is $90.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.06. Pentair has a one year low of $72.63 and a one year high of $110.71.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.38 million. Pentair had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 20.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Pentair will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Pentair's dividend payout ratio is 25.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Pentair from $114.00 to $107.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Pentair from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Pentair from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $107.14.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 stock was sold at an average price of $89.94, for a total value of $589,826.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 26,313 shares in the company, valued at $2,366,591.22. This represents a 19.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pentair

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in Pentair by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,628 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Pentair by 4.8% during the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Pentair by 14.8% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 847 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Pentair by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,194 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its stake in shares of Pentair by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 5,521 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

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.