Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Holdings Decreased by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 411 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Pentair were worth $3,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Pentair by 165.2% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its stake in Pentair by 144.9% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Pentair in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Pentair Price Performance

NYSE PNR opened at $98.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.20. Pentair plc has a twelve month low of $72.44 and a twelve month high of $110.71.

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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Pentair plc will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Pentair Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Pentair’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio is 26.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Pentair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Pentair from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Northcoast Research upgraded Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Pentair from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.25.

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.