363,351 Shares in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Purchased by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 363,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,568,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.22% of Pentair at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PNR. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Pentair by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 7,147 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pentair in the third quarter valued at $437,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 48,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,694,000 after buying an additional 1,774 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its stake in Pentair by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 5,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Pentair by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,814 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Pentair Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PNR opened at $78.66 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.54. Pentair plc has a twelve month low of $72.63 and a twelve month high of $110.71. 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 $12.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.13.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.06. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $972.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $970.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Pentair plc will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PNR. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Pentair from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Pentair from $126.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird raised Pentair from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pentair currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

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.