Primo Water Co. (NYSE:PRMW) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in Primo Water Co. (NYSE:PRMW) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 663,936 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,652 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Primo Water were worth $9,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PRMW. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Primo Water in the third quarter worth $841,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Primo Water by 303.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 806,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,123,000 after purchasing an additional 606,256 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Primo Water by 115.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 261,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,604,000 after purchasing an additional 140,058 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Primo Water by 16.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 34,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 4,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Primo Water by 0.7% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 261,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819 shares during the last quarter. 87.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Primo Water Price Performance

PRMW stock opened at $19.00 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.62. Primo Water Co. has a 12-month low of $12.27 and a 12-month high of $19.15. 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 has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Primo Water Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.09 dividend. This is an increase from Primo Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Primo Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRMW has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Primo Water from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. TD Securities dropped their target price on Primo Water from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Raymond James lowered Primo Water from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Primo Water from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.75.

About Primo Water

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.