Eastern Bank Purchases 300 Shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Eastern Bank increased its position in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 144.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Pentair were worth $51,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Pentair by 1.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $794,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Pentair by 105.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Pentair by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Pentair by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,337 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in Pentair by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Pentair Price Performance

PNR stock opened at $100.22 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Pentair plc has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $110.71. The stock has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $104.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.25.

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

Pentair Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. This is an increase from Pentair’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Philip M. Rolchigo sold 3,588 shares of Pentair stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 19,232 shares in the company, valued at $1,916,853.44. This trade represents a 15.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on PNR. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Pentair from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Pentair from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research assumed 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on Pentair from $126.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Pentair from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.13.

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.