Pentair (NYSE:PNR) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Here's Why

Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 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

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PNR. 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. Mizuho upped their price objective on Pentair from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Pentair from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Pentair in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Pentair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pentair presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.13.

Pentair Trading Up 1.4 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.41. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $16.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.21.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $993.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.53 million. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 16.29%. The firm's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Analysts predict that Pentair plc will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Pentair's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pentair's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Philip M. Rolchigo sold 3,588 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.67, for a total value of $357,615.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,232 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,916,853.44. This trade represents a 15.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Pentair

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PNR. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Pentair by 91.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,082,362 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $159,655,000 after buying an additional 996,325 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP raised its holdings in Pentair by 289.6% during the second quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 956,117 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,305,000 after purchasing an additional 710,703 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Pentair by 862.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 441,887 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,212,000 after purchasing an additional 395,962 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Pentair during the third quarter worth $26,748,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Pentair by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,756,075 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $856,257,000 after purchasing an additional 259,922 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.