Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Stock Position Reduced by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,373 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 156 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Pentair were worth $1,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. ING Groep NV boosted its position in Pentair by 438.1% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 119,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,987,000 after purchasing an additional 96,969 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pentair by 428.6% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 61,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,232,000 after buying an additional 50,213 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Pentair by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,934 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 1,539 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Pentair by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,112 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its position in Pentair by 91.8% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 4,150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Pentair in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup decreased their price target on Pentair from $126.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Pentair from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Pentair in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pentair currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.25.

Pentair Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE PNR opened at $92.89 on Monday. Pentair plc has a 12 month low of $72.63 and a 12 month high of $110.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.21. 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 $15.35 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.20.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $972.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $970.95 million. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 15.32%. Pentair’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Pentair plc will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Pentair Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pentair’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.74%.

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.