Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Invests $245,000 in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,439 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PNR. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Pentair in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pentair by 753.8% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted 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 buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Pentair in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Pentair in the fourth quarter valued at about $64,000. 92.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pentair Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of PNR stock opened at $101.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $87.57 and a 200-day moving average of $96.45. Pentair plc has a 1-year low of $72.63 and a 1-year high of $110.71. The stock has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.04, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.10. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pentair plc will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Pentair’s payout ratio is currently 25.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $95.00 target price on shares of Pentair and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Pentair from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Pentair from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $113.00 in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Pentair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Pentair from $118.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $107.14.

Insider Activity at Pentair

In other Pentair news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 6,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.94, for a total value of $589,826.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,313 shares in the company, valued at $2,366,591.22. This represents a 19.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.