Oppenheimer Maintains Perform on Pentair After Management Meetings

Oppenheimer has published a research report on Pentair (NYSE: PNR) after meetings with company management that portray a forthcoming of market expansions.In the report, Oppenheimer writes, "We met with management and discussed strategic points of emphasis, and came away with the view that decent overall demand stability affords a backdrop for executing on PNR's defined long-range plan. While a sluggish economy may prove some near-term hindrance to target for 100 bps GM expansion/year, we expect strategies for continued proliferation of served niche markets, mix improvement, price/cost management, and CPT integration all generate fertility in 2012. 2011E R&D (~$80M) is up about 20% y-o-y, and up 35% vs. the flattish levels from '06-'09."Oppenheimer maintains its Perform rating and $41 price target on Pentair, which closed yesterday at $37.23.