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 report issued on Friday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PRMW. TD Securities decreased their price target on Primo Water from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Raymond James downgraded Primo Water from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Primo Water from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Primo Water presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $21.25.

Primo Water Stock Performance

Shares of Primo Water stock opened at $19.89 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.75. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.09. Primo Water has a one year low of $12.27 and a one year high of $19.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 2.03.

Primo Water (NYSE:PRMW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts forecast that Primo Water will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primo Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from Primo Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Primo Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Primo Water

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Primo Water in the 3rd quarter valued at $841,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 606,256 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Primo Water by 115.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 261,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,604,000 after buying an additional 140,058 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Primo Water by 16.0% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 34,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 4,754 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Primo Water by 0.7% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 261,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,503,000 after buying an additional 1,819 shares during the last quarter. 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.