Pentair plc $PNR Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 58.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 304,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 424,823 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Pentair were worth $26,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PNR. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pentair by 106.7% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,236,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $358,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670,944 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Pentair by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,484,915 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $366,787,000 after acquiring an additional 647,162 shares during the last quarter. 140 Summer Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Pentair in the third quarter worth about $60,752,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pentair by 43.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,472,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $161,754,000 after acquiring an additional 442,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Pentair by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,474,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $257,700,000 after purchasing an additional 441,878 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Pentair from $90.00 to $75.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price (down from $135.00) on shares of Pentair in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pentair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Pentair from $122.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Pentair from $110.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pentair currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.86.

Pentair Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PNR opened at $76.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $77.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.97. Pentair plc has a 52-week low of $69.93 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.05.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Pentair had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 15.98%.The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pentair plc will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Friday, July 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 24th. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.47%.

About Pentair

Pentair plc (NYSE: PNR) is a global provider of water treatment and fluid management solutions. The company designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of products that move, treat, monitor and control the flow of water and other fluids across residential, commercial, industrial and municipal markets. Pentair’s offerings are focused on improving water quality, conserving resources and enabling efficient fluid handling in applications from household water systems and pools to large-scale industrial and municipal installations.

Product lines include pumps and pumping systems, water filtration and purification equipment, valves and controls, heat exchangers, pool and spa systems, and a range of aftermarket parts and services.