Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Pentair plc $PNR

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 36.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,371,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 365,848 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.84% of Pentair worth $142,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Pentair during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pentair by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pentair by 502.8% during the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 434 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pentair by 86.4% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Pentair in the third quarter worth about $53,000. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pentair Stock Performance

PNR stock opened at $73.17 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.05. Pentair plc has a 12-month low of $69.93 and a 12-month high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.10.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Pentair had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 15.98%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pentair plc will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 24th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 24th. Pentair’s payout ratio is 26.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PNR. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Pentair from $107.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pentair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Pentair from $110.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (down from $135.00) on shares of Pentair in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Pentair from $122.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.86.

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.