KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $6.08 Million in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 60,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,075,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 15,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,576,000 after purchasing an additional 4,928 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pentair in the 4th quarter valued at $300,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Pentair by 219.0% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 604,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $60,863,000 after buying an additional 415,163 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Pentair by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 88,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,889,000 after buying an additional 5,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Pentair by 201.3% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 9,891 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 6,608 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Pentair Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PNR opened at $91.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.81. Pentair plc has a one year low of $72.63 and a one year high of $110.71.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $972.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $970.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. Pentair’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pentair plc will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Pentair’s payout ratio is 26.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PNR. Northcoast Research upgraded Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Pentair in a report on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Pentair from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Pentair from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.93.

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.