Pentair Incorporated, one of FilterPure Systems leading brands has shown record growth over the last 52 weeks and during the first financial quarter 2011. Driven by sales growth in emerging markets as well as across Europe and the United States, Pentair reported $790 million in first quarter sales, improving company financials and prospects for future growth.
“The first quarter was a great start to the year, with 12 percent organic revenue growth, meaningful margin expansion and excellent earnings growth. Our investments are yielding positive results, particularly evident in our geographic expansion, strong innovation and productivity gains,” said Randall J. Hogan, Pentair chairman and chief executive officer. Hogan added “Strong demand in the industrial end markets continued, along with rapid growth in fast growth markets, led by China where sales were up 26 percent. While the U.S. residential end market continues its modest recovery, demand for our energy-efficient and sustainable product offerings remains solid.”
Pentair and investors alike are taking these improvements to be a positive signal for the future. While the company is banking on its hefty Q1 sales figures and growth in working capital to push free cash flow north of $240 million for the whole of 2011, investors are fixated on the firm’s 18.3 P/E ratio, a healthy margin below the industry average of 19.9, making Pentair the obvious immediate choice when considering the addition of water or technical products to the portfolio. Additionally, Pentair offered a 2.1% dividend yield, adding further allure to their present stock.
The future looks bright as well. According to Hogan, Pentair’s plans for the remainder of the fiscal year include margin expansion, as well as “pricing and productivity [that] more than offset inflation.” Further bolstering Pentair’s outlook is the recently announced acquisition by the firm of Norit’s Clean Process Technologies, the 2011 winner of the Global Water Summit’s “Water Technology Company of the Year” award.