Vest Financial LLC Lowers Holdings in Pentair plc $PNR

Vest Financial LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 533,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 75,571 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Pentair were worth $59,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Pentair by 173.6% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,837,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $311,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800,669 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Pentair in the 2nd quarter valued at about $102,945,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pentair by 77.4% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,179,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $121,107,000 after purchasing an additional 514,571 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Pentair by 5.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,970,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $920,957,000 after purchasing an additional 501,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Pentair by 3,428.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,754,000 after buying an additional 497,881 shares during the period. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PNR shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Pentair in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Pentair in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Pentair from $121.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Pentair from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.75.

Pentair Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PNR opened at $104.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.22. Pentair plc has a twelve month low of $74.25 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $104.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.06. Pentair had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 21.83%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Pentair plc will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Pentair Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 23rd. This is a positive change from Pentair’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Pentair’s payout ratio is 25.38%.

Insider Activity at Pentair

In related news, Director T Michael Glenn sold 6,558 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.33, for a total transaction of $684,196.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 31,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,254,261.36. This represents a 17.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert P. Fishman sold 7,786 shares of Pentair stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.42, for a total value of $820,800.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 63,164 shares in the company, valued at $6,658,748.88. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Pentair Company Profile

Pentair plc (NYSE: PNR) is a global provider of water treatment and fluid management solutions. The company designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of products that move, treat, monitor and control the flow of water and other fluids across residential, commercial, industrial and municipal markets. Pentair’s offerings are focused on improving water quality, conserving resources and enabling efficient fluid handling in applications from household water systems and pools to large-scale industrial and municipal installations.

Product lines include pumps and pumping systems, water filtration and purification equipment, valves and controls, heat exchangers, pool and spa systems, and a range of aftermarket parts and services.