Pentair (PNR) Rewards Shareholders With 5% Hike in Dividend
Pentair Plc PNR announced a 5% hike in the quarterly dividend payout — marking its 48th consecutive year of a dividend increase. This is in sync with its long-standing commitment to returning capital to shareholders.
Pentair will pay the new quarterly dividend of 23 cents on Feb 2, 2024, to shareholders of record as of Jan 19, 2023. The raised dividend takes the company’s dividend yield from the current 1.31% to 1.37%, which is higher than the industry’s 0.59%.
Pentair has a three-year dividend growth rate of 5%. It has a payout ratio of 23.51% — higher than the industry’s 11.47%.
Net cash generated from operating activities was $502.3 million in the first nine months of the current year compared with $271.5 million in the prior-year period.
The free cash flow in the first nine months of 2023 was $451 million, a significant improvement from the $211 reported in the comparable period last year. Pentair had cash and cash equivalents of around $137 million at the end of the third quarter compared with $109 million at 2022-end.
The company anticipates the free cash flow to be greater than 100% of net income in 2023, driven by strong demand and continued disciplined working capital management.
Price Performance
The Pentair stock has gained 46.8% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 10.1%.
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Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider
Pentair currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks from the Industrial Products sector are Crane Company CR, Applied Industrial Technologies AIT and A. O. Smith Corporation AOS.
CR currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and AIT and AOS each carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Crane Company’s 2023 earnings per share is pegged at $4.18. The consensus estimate for 2023 earnings has been unchanged in the past 60 days. The company has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 29.8%. CR shares have rallied 33.7% in a year.
Applied Industrial has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 15%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AIT’s 2023 earnings is pinned at $9.43 per share, which indicates year-over-year growth of 7.8%. Estimates have moved up 4% in the past 60 days. The company’s shares have gained 27.2% in a year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for A. O. Smith’s 2023 earnings is pegged at $3.77 per share. The consensus estimate for 2023 earnings has moved 5% north in the past 60 days and suggests year-over-year growth of 20.1%. The company has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 14%. AOS shares have gained 29.4% in a year.
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A. O. Smith Corporation (AOS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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Crane Company (CR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
