Pentair (NYSE:PNR) & Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH) Head-To-Head Contrast

Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH) and Pentair (NYSE:PNR) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

82.4% of Parker-Hannifin shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.4% of Pentair shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Parker-Hannifin shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Pentair shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Parker-Hannifin and Pentair”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Parker-Hannifin	$21.50 billion	5.64	$3.65 billion	$28.49	33.78
Pentair	$4.18 billion	2.30	$653.80 million	$3.98	15.13

Parker-Hannifin has higher revenue and earnings than Pentair. Pentair is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Parker-Hannifin, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Parker-Hannifin pays an annual dividend of $8.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Pentair pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Parker-Hannifin pays out 28.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Pentair pays out 27.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Parker-Hannifin has raised its dividend for 70 consecutive years and Pentair has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years. Pentair is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk & Volatility

Parker-Hannifin has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pentair has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Parker-Hannifin and Pentair, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Parker-Hannifin	0	2	17	0	2.89
Pentair	4	6	8	0	2.22

Parker-Hannifin presently has a consensus price target of $1,114.55, indicating a potential upside of 15.81%. Pentair has a consensus price target of $89.94, indicating a potential upside of 49.32%. Given Pentair’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Pentair is more favorable than Parker-Hannifin.

Profitability

This table compares Parker-Hannifin and Pentair’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Parker-Hannifin	16.97%	28.48%	13.49%
Pentair	16.24%	20.62%	11.44%

Summary

Parker-Hannifin beats Pentair on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Parker-Hannifin

Parker-Hannifin Corporation manufactures and sells motion and control technologies and systems for various mobile, industrial, and aerospace markets worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Diversified Industrial and Aerospace Systems. The Diversified Industrial segment offers sealing, shielding, thermal products and systems, adhesives, coatings, and noise vibration and harshness solutions; filters, systems, and diagnostics solutions to ensure purity and remove contaminants from fuel, air, oil, water, and other liquids and gases; connectors used in fluid and gas handling; and hydraulic, pneumatic, and electromechanical components and systems for builders and users of mobile and industrial machinery and equipment. This segment sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and distributors who serve the replacement markets in manufacturing, packaging, processing, transportation, construction, refrigeration and air conditioning, agricultural, and military machinery and equipment industries. The Aerospace Systems segment offers products for use in commercial and military airframe and engine programs, such as control actuation systems and components, engine build-up ducting, engine exhaust nozzles and assemblies, engine systems and components, fluid conveyance systems and components, fuel systems and components, fuel tank inerting systems, hydraulic systems and components, lubrication components, avionics, sensors, pneumatic control components, thermal management products, fire detection and suppression systems and components, and wheels and brakes, as well as fluid metering, delivery, and atomization devices. This segment markets its products directly to OEMs and end users. The company markets its products through direct-sales employees, independent distributors, and sales representatives. Parker-Hannifin Corporation was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

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. The Water Solutions segment provides commercial and residential water treatment products and systems, including pressure tanks, control valves, activated carbon products, commercial ice machines, conventional filtration products, and point-of-entry and point-of-use water treatment systems, as well as installation and preventative services for use in residential whole home water filtration, drinking water filtration, and water softening solutions, as well as commercial total water management and filtration in foodservice operations. The Pool segment provides residential and commercial pool equipment and accessories comprising pumps, filters, heaters, lights, automatic controls, automatic cleaners, maintenance equipment, and pool accessories for applications in residential and commercial pool maintenance, pool repair, renovation, service, and construction and aquaculture solutions. Pentair plc was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.