Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,830,000 shares, a decline of 16.0% from the September 30th total of 3,370,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,390,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Pentair Price Performance

PNR stock remained flat at $98.96 during midday trading on Monday. The company had a trading volume of 416,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,555,336. The stock has a market cap of $16.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $92.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.96. Pentair has a 12 month low of $57.45 and a 12 month high of $101.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Pentair will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Pentair Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Pentair’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PNR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Northcoast Research downgraded Pentair from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Pentair from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Pentair from $101.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Pentair from $98.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Pentair from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pentair

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PNR. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Pentair by 1.5% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $610,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of Pentair by 3.9% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,403 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Pentair by 3.8% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,485 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Pentair by 1.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in shares of Pentair by 0.4% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 36,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,808,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 92.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.