Pentair (NYSE:PNR) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pentair (NYSE:PNR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Pentair in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Pentair from $126.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Pentair from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Pentair from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Pentair in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.25.

Pentair Price Performance

NYSE PNR opened at $94.29 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.20. Pentair has a 12-month low of $72.63 and a 12-month high of $110.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $99.52 and its 200-day moving average is $98.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.06. Pentair had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 20.94%. The firm had revenue of $972.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $970.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pentair will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.74%.

Institutional Trading of Pentair

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Pentair during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Pentair by 105.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in Pentair by 753.8% in the 4th 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. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in Pentair by 230.8% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Pentair by 165.2% in the 3rd 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 during the period. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.