Pentair (NYSE:PNR) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 602,065 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the previous session’s volume of 947,506 shares.The stock last traded at $102.28 and had previously closed at $100.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Pentair from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Pentair in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Pentair from $115.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Pentair from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Pentair from $126.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.13.

Pentair Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $104.29 and a 200 day moving average of $94.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.21.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $993.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.53 million. Pentair had a net margin of 16.29% and a return on equity of 20.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pentair plc will post 4.28 EPS for the current year.

Pentair Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Pentair’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio is 23.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pentair

In related news, EVP Philip M. Rolchigo sold 3,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.67, for a total transaction of $357,615.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,916,853.44. The trade was a 15.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pentair

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PNR. Quarry LP lifted its position in Pentair by 105.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Pentair by 165.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Pentair in the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Pentair by 4,450.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

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.