Pentair (NYSE:PNR) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $78.96, but opened at $85.13. Pentair shares last traded at $84.83, with a volume of 258,108 shares changing hands.

The industrial products company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $988.38 million. Pentair had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 20.94%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Pentair's dividend payout ratio is 25.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PNR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Pentair from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Pentair from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Baird R W raised shares of Pentair from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut Pentair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Pentair from $114.00 to $107.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Pentair during the third quarter worth $302,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Pentair in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $117,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Pentair by 35.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Pentair by 3.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,249 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Pentair by 5.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 219,061 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $21,422,000 after purchasing an additional 11,392 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.37% of the company's stock.

Pentair Price Performance

The stock's 50 day moving average price is $86.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.13.

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.