Pentair (NYSE:PNR) Stock Moved Up to “Strong-Buy” by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Pentair (NYSE:PNR) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Pentair from $115.00 to $94.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Pentair from $91.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Pentair in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Pentair from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Pentair from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pentair currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.19.

Pentair Price Performance

Shares of Pentair stock opened at $52.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.45. Pentair has a one year low of $51.64 and a one year high of $112.26.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $932.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $943.24 million. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 16.24%.Pentair’s quarterly revenue was down 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Pentair will post 4.64 EPS for the current year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 23rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.14%.

Institutional Trading of Pentair

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tsfg LLC purchased a new position in Pentair during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Pentair during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Plan A Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Pentair during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pentair during the second quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, AlphaGrep UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pentair during the second quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

About Pentair

Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) is a water treatment and fluid management company that develops products and solutions for residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers. Its offerings are designed to help move, treat, filter, control, and conserve water across a range of applications.

The company’s products include pool pumps, filters, heaters, cleaners, lighting, automation systems, and related equipment, as well as water softeners, filtration systems, pumps, valves, controls, and other water-treatment technologies.