Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 112.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 68,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 36,411 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Pentair were worth $6,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PNR. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Pentair by 219.0% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 604,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $60,863,000 after buying an additional 415,163 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Pentair in the 4th quarter worth about $36,568,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Pentair by 67.4% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 888,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,390,000 after buying an additional 357,523 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Pentair by 726.4% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 296,554 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,845,000 after buying an additional 260,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in shares of Pentair by 349.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 263,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,135,000 after purchasing an additional 204,683 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pentair Price Performance

PNR stock opened at $84.10 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Pentair plc has a 52-week low of $72.63 and a 52-week high of $110.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $90.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.98. The company has a market capitalization of $13.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PNR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Pentair from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com lowered Pentair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised Pentair from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Northcoast Research raised Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Baird R W raised Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Four 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

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.