Pacer Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 4,231.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 622,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 607,821 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Pentair were worth $54,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pentair by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,101,253 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $614,030,000 after acquiring an additional 396,581 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pentair by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,086,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $410,240,000 after buying an additional 87,244 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Pentair by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,468,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $349,085,000 after purchasing an additional 217,867 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Pentair by 2.5% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,050,774 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $179,402,000 after purchasing an additional 50,718 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Pentair by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,962,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $197,482,000 after purchasing an additional 428,184 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pentair Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE PNR opened at $103.20 on Friday. Pentair plc has a 12 month low of $74.25 and a 12 month high of $110.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $101.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.48.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Pentair had a net margin of 14.86% and a return on equity of 21.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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, August 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.97%. Pentair’s payout ratio is currently 27.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.94, for a total value of $589,826.52. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,366,591.22. This trade represents a 19.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PNR has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Pentair from $107.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Pentair from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Pentair from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Pentair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $115.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $95.00 target price on shares of Pentair and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pentair has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.46.

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.