DnB Asset Management AS Sells 3,520 Shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

DnB Asset Management AS cut its position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,520 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Pentair were worth $5,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Pentair by 105.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in Pentair by 753.8% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Eastern Bank increased its position in Pentair by 144.9% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pentair during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Pentair in the fourth quarter worth $56,000. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Baird R W raised Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays reduced their target price on Pentair from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Pentair in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Pentair from $126.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pentair presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.27.

Pentair Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PNR opened at $86.76 on Monday. Pentair plc has a twelve month low of $72.63 and a twelve month high of $110.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $94.54 and its 200-day moving average is $98.84. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $14.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.23.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $972.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $970.95 million. Pentair had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 20.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pentair plc will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.74%.

About Pentair

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.