Trexquant Investment LP Decreases Stock Position in Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR)

Trexquant Investment LP cut its holdings in shares of Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) by 28.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 21,437 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Pentair were worth $3,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pentair by 82.4% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Pentair by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 32,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,369,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in Pentair by 5.1% in the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Pentair by 112.7% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Pentair by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pentair Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PNR opened at $82.53 on Friday. Pentair plc has a 1 year low of $55.26 and a 1 year high of $85.84. The firm has a market cap of $13.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.95, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $82.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.04. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.16% and a net margin of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Pentair plc will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jerome O. Pedretti sold 24,747 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.45, for a total transaction of $2,089,884.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 38,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,254,534.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Pentair from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Pentair in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Pentair from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Pentair in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $86.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Pentair from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pentair has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.93.

Pentair 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.