Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Shares Bought by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Pentair were worth $8,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Pentair by 201.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 9,891 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $995,000 after purchasing an additional 6,608 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Pentair by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 23,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in Pentair in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,809,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Pentair by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,648,000 after purchasing an additional 11,249 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp grew its holdings in Pentair by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 26,072 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,537 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pentair Price Performance

NYSE:PNR opened at $87.44 on Friday. Pentair plc has a 52 week low of $72.63 and a 52 week high of $110.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $14.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $95.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.65.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.06. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $972.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $970.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Pentair plc will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PNR. StockNews.com upgraded Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Northcoast Research upgraded Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Pentair from $126.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Pentair in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Pentair in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.93.

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.