Park Avenue Securities LLC Reduces Holdings in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Park Avenue Securities LLC reduced its stake in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 45.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,987 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,725 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Pentair were worth $1,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pentair in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Pentair during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in Pentair by 230.8% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 128.4% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pentair during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Pentair Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:PNR opened at $99.30 on Thursday. Pentair plc has a 1 year low of $72.63 and a 1 year high of $110.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $91.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PNR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho set a $100.00 price target on Pentair in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Pentair from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Pentair from $118.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays upped their price target on Pentair from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Pentair and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 26,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,366,591.22. This represents a 19.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.