Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stock Position in Pentair plc $PNR

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 6.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 90,015 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,364 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Pentair were worth $9,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PNR. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Pentair by 6.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,333,689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $258,479,000 after purchasing an additional 149,858 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Pentair by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $903,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Pentair by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,038,000 after buying an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Pentair by 64.9% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. grew its stake in shares of Pentair by 0.9% in the third quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. now owns 20,852 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,310,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PNR has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Pentair from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Pentair from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Pentair from a “buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pentair

In related news, Director T Michael Glenn sold 6,558 shares of Pentair stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.33, for a total transaction of $684,196.14. Following the sale, the director directly owned 31,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,254,261.36. This trade represents a 17.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert P. Fishman sold 7,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.42, for a total transaction of $820,800.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 63,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,658,748.88. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pentair Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PNR opened at $107.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.62 billion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.22. Pentair plc has a fifty-two week low of $74.25 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.06. Pentair had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 21.83%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pentair plc will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Investors of record on Friday, January 23rd will be given a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Pentair’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Pentair’s payout ratio is 25.38%.

About Pentair

Pentair plc (NYSE: PNR) is a global provider of water treatment and fluid management solutions. The company designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of products that move, treat, monitor and control the flow of water and other fluids across residential, commercial, industrial and municipal markets. Pentair’s offerings are focused on improving water quality, conserving resources and enabling efficient fluid handling in applications from household water systems and pools to large-scale industrial and municipal installations.

Product lines include pumps and pumping systems, water filtration and purification equipment, valves and controls, heat exchangers, pool and spa systems, and a range of aftermarket parts and services.