Billionaire Christian Leone Boosts Stake in This TV Station Operator, Nelson Peltz Lifts Stake in Struggling Pentair plc. (PNR), Plus 2 Other Moves

In a freshly-amended 13D filing, renowned activist Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners reported owning 14.34 million shares of Pentair plc. (NYSE:PNR), which constitute 7.95% of the company’s outstanding shares. This compares with 13.68 million shares Trian disclosed in its 13F filing for the final quarter of 2015. The diversified industrial manufacturing company primarily operates through four business segments: Valves & Controls, Flow & Filtration Solutions, Water Quality Systems, and Technical Solutions. The company generated net sales of $6.45 billion in 2015, down from $7.04 billion in 2014. Pentair plc. (NYSE:PNR)’s Valves & Controls segment, which manufactures and markets valves, fittings, automation and controls and actuators for the energy and industrial markets, was hit the most last year due to weaker-than-expected oil and gas industry shipments and orders, slowing global capital spending and sustained sales decline in the mining industry. Meanwhile, the company’s management expects full-year 2016 sales of $6.6 billion, which represent an increase of 2% on a reported basis and a decrease of 2%-to-3% on a core sales basis. Pentair’s shares are currently trading around 11 times expected 2017 earnings, versus a multiple of 14.8 for the Industrial sector. The number of hedge funds from our system with stakes in Pentair dropped to 19 from 23 during the December quarter. Larry Robbins’ Glenview Capital trimmed its stake in Pentair plc. (NYSE:PNR) by 36% during the fourth quarter to 3.57 million shares.

Follow Nelson Peltz's Trian Partners