Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Pentair’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23.

Pentair has raised its dividend by an average of 5.0% annually over the last three years. Pentair has a payout ratio of 18.9% indicating that 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 Price Performance

NYSE PNR opened at $105.47 on Wednesday. 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 has a 12 month low of $68.08 and a 12 month high of $110.71. The company’s 50 day moving average is $103.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.12. The stock has a market cap of $17.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.20.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $993.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.53 million. Pentair had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 16.29%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pentair will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PNR. UBS Group raised their price target on Pentair from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Pentair from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Pentair from $113.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Pentair in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Pentair from $95.00 to $110.00 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 eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Philip M. Rolchigo sold 3,588 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,916,853.44. This represents a 15.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.