First Trust Advisors LP Sells 82,045 Shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its holdings in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 945,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 82,045 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.57% of Pentair worth $95,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Pentair by 136.9% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 757 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Pentair by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 22,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,267,000 after buying an additional 5,800 shares in the last quarter. Charter Oak Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Pentair in the 4th quarter worth about $13,320,000. Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of Pentair during the 4th quarter valued at about $239,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pentair by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 2,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pentair Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:PNR opened at $80.27 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Pentair plc has a 12-month low of $72.63 and a 12-month high of $110.71. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.24.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.08 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 business had revenue of $972.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $970.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pentair plc will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Pentair’s payout ratio is presently 26.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded Pentair from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Pentair in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pentair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Pentair from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Pentair from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.00.

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.