Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Makes New Investment in Primo Water Co. (NYSE:PRMW)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Primo Water Co. (NYSE:PRMW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 65,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in Primo Water by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 263,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,958,000 after acquiring an additional 1,880 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Primo Water by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 951,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,327,000 after purchasing an additional 145,966 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Primo Water by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 72,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,093,000 after acquiring an additional 11,689 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Primo Water by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 15,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 3,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in shares of Primo Water in the 4th quarter worth $233,000. Institutional investors own 87.71% of the company’s stock.

Primo Water Price Performance

PRMW opened at $17.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.12. Primo Water Co. has a 1 year low of $12.27 and a 1 year high of $18.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $16.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.23.

Primo Water (NYSE:PRMW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.10). Primo Water had a net margin of 10.82% and a return on equity of 8.55%. The company had revenue of $438.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $582.93 million. Analysts forecast that Primo Water Co. will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primo Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Primo Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Primo Water’s payout ratio is presently 24.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities decreased their target price on Primo Water from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Primo Water from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James cut Primo Water from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Primo Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.75.

Primo Water Company Profile

Primo Water Corporation provides pure-play water solutions for residential and commercial customers. It offers bottled water, water dispensers, purified bottled water, self-service refill drinking water, premium spring, mineral water, sparkling and flavored essence water, filtration units, and coffee.