Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Grows Position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 46.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 222,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 70,600 shares during the quarter. Pentair comprises approximately 0.7% of Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Pentair were worth $22,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PNR. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 3.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 5.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 219,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,422,000 after acquiring an additional 11,392 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 35,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Pentair during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $989,000. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 144.9% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PNR. Baird R W upgraded Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $95.00 price objective on Pentair and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Pentair from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Pentair from $114.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $100.00 price objective on Pentair in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pentair presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pentair news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.94, for a total transaction of $589,826.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,313 shares in the company, valued at $2,366,591.22. The trade was a 19.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pentair Price Performance

PNR opened at $93.52 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $86.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.43. 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 cap of $15.39 billion, a PE ratio of 25.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.11. Pentair plc has a 1 year low of $72.63 and a 1 year high of $110.71.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.38 million. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 15.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Pentair plc will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. Pentair’s payout ratio is 25.84%.

Pentair Company 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.