First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 945,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 82,045 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Pentair were worth $95,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PNR. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pentair by 136.9% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Pentair by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 22,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after buying an additional 5,800 shares during the last quarter. Charter Oak Advisors LP acquired a new position in Pentair in the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,320,000. Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new position in Pentair during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its stake in Pentair by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 2,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Pentair Stock Performance

PNR opened at $80.27 on Monday. Pentair plc has a twelve month low of $72.63 and a twelve month high of $110.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.13. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $87.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.24.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last posted 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. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PNR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Pentair from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Pentair in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Northcoast Research upgraded Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Baird R W upgraded Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised 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, March 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.00.

Pentair 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.