Dividend Aristocrats In Focus: Pentair plc

Updated on February 27th, 2026 by Nathan Parsh

The Dividend Aristocrats prove that boring isn’t always a bad thing when it comes to investing. They are a group of 69 companies in the S&P 500 Index that have had at least 25 consecutive years of dividend increases.

We are big fans of the Dividend Aristocrats and believe investors can generate superior returns from these high-quality dividend stocks.

For this reason, we created a full spreadsheet of all 69 Dividend Aristocrats–complete with important financial metrics that matter most to investors–which you can download by clicking the link below:

Disclaimer: Sure Dividend is not affiliated with S&P Global in any way. S&P Global owns and maintains The Dividend Aristocrats Index. The information in this article and downloadable spreadsheet is based on Sure Dividend’s own review, summary, and analysis of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) and other sources, and is meant to help individual investors better understand this ETF and the index upon which it is based. None of the information in this article or spreadsheet is official data from S&P Global. Consult S&P Global for official information.

We review all 69 Dividend Aristocrats on a yearly basis. The next stock in the series is industrial manufacturer Pentair plc (PNR).

Pentair does not have an exciting business model, so it will most likely not be featured as the next hot growth stock anytime soon. Instead, it is a slow-and-steady dividend stock that has created substantial shareholder wealth over the past several decades.

Pentair has increased its dividend for 50 years in a row. The company’s dividend is also very safe. Pentair is a high-quality business that provides investors with steady dividend growth.

Business Overview

Pentair is based in the U.K. but has large operations across Europe and in the U.S., among other international regions. The company was formed in 1966. In 1968, Pentair acquired Peavey Paper Mills, which gave it a top position in paper products. Paper fueled the company’s growth over the next decade, until management decided to diversify into other product categories.

The company recently spun off its Technical Solutions business and now operates as a pure-play water solutions company. The company generates just over $4.1 billion in revenue and focuses on improving the availability and quality of water.

After the 2018 spin-off of nVent Electric (NVT), Pentair is a pure-play water solutions company with three segments: Aquatic Systems, Filtration Solutions, and Flow Technologies..

Pentair reported solid financial performance for both the fourth-quarter and the full year.

Source: Investor Presentation

For the quarter, revenue grew almost 5% to $1.02 billion, which was $13 million more than expected. Adjusted earnings-per-share of $1.18 compared to $1.08 in the prior year and beat estimates by $0.02. For the year, revenue improved 2% to $4.2 billion while adjusted earnings-per-share of $4.92 compared to $4.33 in 2024.

Core sales, which excludes the impact of currency rate movements, acquisitions, and dispossessions, was up 4%. The return on sales was unchanged at 20.1% for the quarter, but expanded 170 basis points to 25.2% for 2025. Full year net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operating increased $48 million, or 6.3%, to $815 million. Free cash flow grew $55 million, or 7.9%, to $748 million.

Looking ahead, Pentair introduced 2026 EPS guidance of $4.94 to $5.09 on a GAAP basis and $5.25 to $5.40 on an adjusted basis, reflecting expected earnings growth. The company projects full-year sales to be up 3% to 4%, with first-quarter revenue anticipated to grow by 1% to 2%. Management reaffirmed Pentair’s commitment to long-term profitability and operational excellence despite economic uncertainties, emphasizing continued investments in key growth areas.

Growth Prospects

Between 2008 and 2017 (before the nVent spin-off), Pentair grew its earnings per share by 5.5% annually. Adjusted for the impact of the last financial crisis—an unusually harsh recession that caused Pentair’s earnings per share to decline by slightly more than 30% between 2008 and 2009—Pentair’s long-term earnings-per-share growth rate would have been even higher.

Pentair management believes that a long-term earnings-per-share growth rate of 10% is possible, but we are a bit more conservative. We think it is better to expect a 8% earnings-per-share growth rate from Pentair over the coming years.

The company has many outlets for future growth.

Source: Investor Presentation

The company should be able to achieve this growth through rising revenues, which will be possible thanks to organic growth and acquisitions, and through tailwinds from margin expansion and share repurchases, which will lead to further declines in Pentair’s share count.

Pentair will benefit from several structural tailwinds, such as the aging water infrastructure in the U.S. Pentair continues to see very strong organic growth on a consolidated basis as Aquatic Systems performs well. Acquisitions will also help boost the company’s growth.

Competitive Advantages & Recession Performance

One of the competitive factors that has fueled Pentair’s impressive growth is its lean cost structure. This is no accident; Pentair has employed a strategy called Pentair Integrated Management System, or PIMS, enabling its high profit margins.

PIMS enables leaner manufacturing processes and drives efficiency throughout the company’s supply chain and distribution. Even though the effort is years old at this point, it continues to permeate the company’s strategy today. The impact is a culture and mindset with a relentless focus on cutting costs from its model.

The PIMS is an organization-wide system. It affects talent management by providing employees with the proper incentives and allowing all employees to have individual responsibility down to the operator level.

Within the PIMS system, the ‘Lean Enterprise’ system helps to increase profit margins. It drives margin expansion by increasing productivity at manufacturing sites and helps identify acquisition targets with the highest cost savings opportunities.

Its competitive advantages and high margins allowed the company to remain profitable during the Great Recession during 2007-2009:

2007 earnings-per-share of $2.08
2008 earnings-per-share of $2.20 (5.8% increase)
2009 earnings-per-share of $1.47 (33% decline)
2010 earnings-per-share of $2.00 (36% increase)

As a global industrial manufacturer, Pentair is not immune from recessions. However, it quickly bounced back. Pentair’s earnings-per-share reached a new high in 2011. Given that Pentair is now a pure-play water treatment company, we expect the next recession will have a milder impact on the company’s earnings.

Pentair is now focused on services that can be considered needs and not wants, so we believe the company’s recession resistance has improved in recent years.

Valuation & Expected Returns

Based on the expected adjusted earnings-per-share of $5.33 for 2026, Pentair’s price-to-earnings ratio is 18.6. Our fair value estimate is a P/E of 18.

Given this, we see the stock as somewhat overvalued. A decline in the price-to-earnings ratio could negatively impact shareholder returns by -0.6% annually through 2031. Additionally, EPS growth (estimated at 8% per year) and the 1.1% dividend yield will contribute to total returns.

In total, we see annual returns of 8.3% accruing to Pentair shareholders, consisting of the 1.1% dividend yield, 8% earnings-per-share growth, and the -0.6% return from a contracting valuation multiple.

An expected return near 8.3% annually is satisfactory for a hold but not high enough to warrant a buy rating.

Final Thoughts

Pentair has a strong business model and competitive advantages. These qualities have fueled its steady dividend growth over the past five decades and we don’t see any reason to believe that won’t continue for many years to come.

However, given the elevated valuation multiple, Pentair shares are trading without a modest margin of safety, culminating in estimated total annualized returns of 8.3%. The company should be able to continue increasing its dividend each year. As a result, we rate shares of Pentair a hold right now.

Additionally, the following Sure Dividend databases contain the most reliable dividend growers in our investment universe:

If you’re looking for stocks with unique dividend characteristics, consider the following Sure Dividend databases:

The major domestic stock market indices are another solid resource for finding investment ideas. Sure Dividend compiles the following stock market databases and updates them monthly: