Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,448,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 14,285 shares during the quarter. Pentair accounts for approximately 1.0% of Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned approximately 0.88% of Pentair worth $145,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PNR. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Pentair by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,475,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $148,457,000 after acquiring an additional 119,331 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in Pentair by 230.8% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP acquired a new position in Pentair in the 4th quarter worth about $8,468,000. Crestline Management LP grew its position in shares of Pentair by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 29,922 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 5,268 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Pentair in the 4th quarter valued at $6,841,000. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pentair

In related news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.94, for a total value of $589,826.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,313 shares in the company, valued at $2,366,591.22. This represents a 19.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PNR shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Pentair from $114.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Northcoast Research upgraded Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $95.00 price target on shares of Pentair and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Pentair from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Pentair from $118.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.93.

Pentair Price Performance

PNR stock opened at $91.76 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.60. Pentair plc has a 52-week low of $72.63 and a 52-week high of $110.71. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $86.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.53.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.38 million. Pentair had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 20.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pentair plc will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Pentair’s payout ratio is 25.84%.

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.