Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Pentair (NYSE:PNR) Price Target to $124.00

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $104.00 to $124.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.09% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PNR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Pentair from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $113.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Pentair from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 target price (up from $99.00) on shares of Pentair in a report on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $95.00 price target on shares of Pentair and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.00.

Pentair Stock Performance

PNR traded down $1.06 on Monday, hitting $105.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,514,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,452,359. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $101.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Pentair has a 12 month low of $74.25 and a 12 month high of $110.71. The firm has a market cap of $17.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.09.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.10. Pentair had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $988.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. Analysts forecast that Pentair will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pentair

In other news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.94, for a total transaction of $589,826.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,366,591.22. This represents a 19.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pentair

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PNR. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Pentair by 373.8% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,137,682 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $99,523,000 after acquiring an additional 897,585 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Pentair by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,129,805 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $361,275,000 after acquiring an additional 661,154 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Pentair by 4,231.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 622,185 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $54,429,000 after acquiring an additional 607,821 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Pentair by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 4,974,612 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $412,033,000 after buying an additional 594,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Pentair by 229.1% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 786,362 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $68,791,000 after acquiring an additional 547,419 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Pentair Company Profile

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.