KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New Investment in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 60,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,075,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PNR. Quarry LP increased its stake in Pentair by 105.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pentair by 753.8% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 144.9% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Pentair during the 4th quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Pentair in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Pentair Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PNR opened at $91.11 on Wednesday. Pentair plc has a twelve month low of $72.63 and a twelve month high of $110.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $95.36 and its 200-day moving average is $98.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PNR shares. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Pentair in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Pentair from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Pentair in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Northcoast Research upgraded Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Pentair from $126.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.93.

About Pentair

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.