Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Shares Bought by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Pentair were worth $961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Pentair by 105.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in Pentair by 753.8% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Eastern Bank raised its position in Pentair by 144.9% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pentair in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Pentair during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Pentair Price Performance

NYSE PNR opened at $91.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.55. Pentair plc has a 52-week low of $72.63 and a 52-week high of $110.71.

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

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PNR. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Pentair in a report on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Pentair in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Pentair from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Pentair from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pentair has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.25.

Pentair 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.