Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.25 Per Share

Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 17th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Pentair’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23.

Pentair has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.0% annually over the last three years. Pentair has a payout ratio of 18.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Pentair to earn $4.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.9%.

Pentair Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:PNR traded down $2.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $105.49. 1,136,996 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,516,746. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $103.47 and a 200 day moving average of $91.12. Pentair has a 12 month low of $68.08 and a 12 month high of $110.71.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PNR shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Pentair from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Pentair from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on Pentair from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Pentair in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pentair

In other news, EVP Philip M. Rolchigo sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,916,853.44. This represents a 15.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.