Everpure (NYSE:P) Shares Down 5.2% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares fell 5.2% to about $107.79 in Tuesday trading, with volume down 83% from average levels. The company has a $36.3 billion market capitalization and trades at a high 149.76 price-to-earnings ratio.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 17 Buy ratings, three Holds, and one Sell; the consensus is Moderate Buy with an average price target of $129.10, implying potential upside.
• Everpure reported quarterly EPS of $0.70, beating estimates by $0.51, while revenue rose 37.7% year over year to $1.19 billion. However, insiders sold 812,785 shares worth approximately $79.3 million over the past 90 days.

Everpure, Inc. (NYSE:P - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 5.2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $107.20 and last traded at $107.7910. Approximately 622,842 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 3,674,111 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on P shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Everpure from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Everpure in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Everpure from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Everpure from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. Finally, Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Everpure in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $129.10.

Everpure Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $36.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 149.76, a PEG ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $92.97.

Everpure (NYSE:P - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. Everpure had a net margin of 5.94% and a return on equity of 19.06%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Everpure, Inc. will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Colgrove sold 200,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total transaction of $19,396,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 6,474,080 shares in the company, valued at $627,856,278.40. This represents a 3.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Susan J.S. Taylor sold 8,543 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.74, for a total transaction of $698,304.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 94,608 shares in the company, valued at $7,733,257.92. The trade was a 8.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 812,785 shares of company stock worth $79,303,775. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Everpure

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Everpure by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,716,158 shares of the company's stock worth $515,972,000 after purchasing an additional 207,317 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Everpure during the 4th quarter valued at about $265,327,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Everpure by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,007,431 shares of the company's stock worth $201,528,000 after acquiring an additional 666,941 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its position in Everpure by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,679,161 shares of the company's stock worth $179,538,000 after acquiring an additional 80,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Everpure by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,554,240 shares of the company's stock worth $104,150,000 after acquiring an additional 265,846 shares during the period. 83.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Everpure Company Profile

Everpure is a water-treatment and filtration brand owned by Pentair plc, rather than a separately listed company trading under the NYSE symbol P. The brand provides filtration and water-conditioning solutions for residential, commercial, foodservice, and beverage applications.

Its product portfolio includes water filters, cartridges, heads, manifolds, reverse-osmosis systems, scale-reduction products, and related treatment equipment. Everpure systems are used to improve water quality and help protect equipment in applications such as drinking-water dispensers, coffee and tea equipment, ice machines, restaurants, and other foodservice operations.

Everpure was established in 1933 and serves customers through Pentair's global water-solutions business.

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