Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 11,392 Shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR - Free Report) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 219,061 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,392 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Pentair worth $21,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Pentair by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,249 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Pentair during the third quarter worth about $117,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pentair in the third quarter valued at approximately $302,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Pentair by 101.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 11,933 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,276,000 after buying an additional 6,024 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PNR shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Pentair from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Pentair from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Pentair from $115.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Pentair from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Pentair from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Philip M. Rolchigo sold 3,588 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.67, for a total value of $357,615.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,232 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pentair Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of PNR traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $102.45. The stock had a trading volume of 626,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,510,656. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.23. Pentair plc has a 12 month low of $68.08 and a 12 month high of $110.71. The company has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.20.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR - Get Free Report) 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 company had revenue of $993.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $988.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Pentair's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Pentair plc will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. This is a boost from Pentair's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Pentair's payout ratio is presently 25.00%.

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.