Pentair (NYSE:PNR) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

PNR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Northcoast Research raised Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Pentair from $126.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Pentair in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Pentair from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Pentair from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.25.

Pentair Stock Down 0.3 %

Pentair stock opened at $92.97 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Pentair has a 1-year low of $72.63 and a 1-year high of $110.71.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last posted its 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 the consensus estimate of $970.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pentair will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pentair

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Pentair in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP increased 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 buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 753.8% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its position in Pentair by 230.8% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Pentair by 165.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. 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.