StockNews.com Downgrades Primo Water (NYSE:PRMW) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Primo Water (NYSE:PRMW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Primo Water from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Primo Water from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Primo Water from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Primo Water currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $20.75.

Primo Water Stock Performance

PRMW opened at $18.87 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.62. Primo Water has a 1-year low of $12.27 and a 1-year high of $19.01. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.12.

Primo Water (NYSE:PRMW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $438.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $582.93 million. Primo Water had a net margin of 10.82% and a return on equity of 8.55%. On average, analysts expect that Primo Water will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primo Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Primo Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Primo Water’s payout ratio is 24.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Primo Water

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Primo Water by 358.1% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Primo Water by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Primo Water in the 3rd quarter worth about $102,000. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in Primo Water in the 3rd quarter worth about $139,000. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Primo Water in the 3rd quarter worth about $159,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.71% of the company’s stock.

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.