Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $111.13.

PNR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Pentair from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on Pentair from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Pentair from $126.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Pentair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Pentair from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Philip M. Rolchigo sold 3,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.67, for a total value of $357,615.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,916,853.44. The trade was a 15.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pentair

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 105.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pentair by 753.8% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pentair by 165.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its stake in Pentair by 144.9% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Pentair during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Pentair Stock Performance

NYSE PNR opened at $104.69 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Pentair has a twelve month low of $70.59 and a twelve month high of $110.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $104.21 and a 200 day moving average of $95.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $993.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.53 million. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 16.29%. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pentair will post 4.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Pentair’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.00%.

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.