Sifting through countless of stocks in the Machinery industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Pentair plc, Helios Technologies or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Pentair plc, Helios Technologies and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Pentair plc, Helios Technologies and Inc.

Pentair plc provides various water solutions in the United States, Western Europe, China, Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Canada. It operates through three segments: Flow, Water Solutions, and Pool. The Flow segment designs, manufactures, and sells fluid treatment and pump products and systems, including pressure vessels, gas recovery solutions, membrane bioreactors, wastewater reuse systems and advanced membrane filtration, separation systems, specialty insertion valves, water disposal pumps, water supply pumps, fluid transfer pumps, turbine pumps, solid handling pumps, and agricultural spray nozzles. This segment provides products under Pentair Flow, Aurora, Berkeley, Codeline, Fairbanks-Nijhuis, Haffmans, Hydromatic, Hypro, Jung Pumpen, Myers, Sta-Rite, Shurflo, Südmo, and X-Flow brand names. The Water Solutions segment offers commercial and residential water treatment products and systems, such as pressure tanks, control valves, activated carbon products, commercial ice machines, conventional filtration products, and point-of-entry and point-of-use water treatment systems for use in water filtration and water softening solutions, as well as commercial water management and filtration solutions in foodservice operations; and installation and preventative services for water management solutions for commercial operators under the Pentair Water Solutions, Everpure, Fleck, Manitowoc Ice, Pentek, and RainSoft brands. The Pool segment provides residential and commercial pool equipment and accessories, including pumps, filters, heaters, lights, automatic controls and cleaners, chlorinators, maintenance equipment, and pool accessories for residential and commercial pool maintenance, pool repair, renovation, service, construction, and aquaculture solutions. This segment offers products under the Pentair Pool, Kreepy Krauly, Pleatco, and Sta-Rite brands. Pentair plc was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Helios Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides engineered motion control and electronic controls technology solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through two segments; Hydraulics and Electronics. The Hydraulics segment designs and manufactures hydraulic motion control and fluid conveyance technology products, including cartridge valves, manifolds, and quick release couplings, as well as engineers complete hydraulic system solutions. This segment sells its products under the Sun Hydraulics, Faster, NEM, Taimi, Daman, and Schultes brands. The Electronics segment designs and manufactures customized electronic controls systems, displays, wire harnesses, and software solutions. This segment sells its products under Enovation Controls, Murphy, Zero Off, HCT, Balboa Water Group, i3PD and Cygnus Reach and Joyonway brands. It markets and sells hydraulic products and engineered solutions through value-added distributors, as well as directly to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs); and electronic products to OEMs, distributors, and system integrators. It serves construction, material handling, agriculture, industrial, mobile, energy, recreational vehicles, marine, aerospace, and health and wellness sectors. The company was formerly known as Sun Hydraulics Corporation and changed its name to Helios Technologies, Inc. in June 2019. Helios Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 1970 and is headquartered in Sarasota, Florida.

Latest Machinery and Pentair plc, Helios Technologies, Inc. Stock News

As of July 31, 2026, Pentair plc had a $10.4 billion market capitalization, compared to the Machinery median of $3.9 million. Pentair plc’s stock is down 37.2% in 2026, up 4.1% in the previous five trading days and down 35.4% in the past year.

Currently, Pentair plc’s price-earnings ratio is 16.9. Pentair plc’s trailing 12-month revenue is $4.0 billion with a 16.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -17.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $4.647 per share for the current fiscal year. Pentair plc currently has a 1.7% dividend yield.

As of July 31, 2026, Helios Technologies, Inc. had a $2.6 billion market cap, putting it in the 57th percentile of all stocks. Helios Technologies, Inc.’s stock is up 45.7% in 2026, down 2.4% in the previous five trading days and up 111.65% in the past year.

Currently, Helios Technologies, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 42.8. Helios Technologies, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $871.9 million with a 7.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 16.8%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.936 per share for the current fiscal year. Helios Technologies, Inc. currently has a 0.6% dividend yield.

How We Compare Pentair plc, Helios Technologies and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Pentair plc, Helios Technologies and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Pentair plc, Helios Technologies and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Pentair plc	PNR	A
Helios Technologies, Inc.	HLIO	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Pentair plc has a Quality Score of 91, which is Very Strong. Helios Technologies, Inc. has a Quality Score of 93, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both Pentair plc, Helios Technologies and Inc. have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.

Pentair plc, Helios Technologies and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Pentair plc	PNR	F
Helios Technologies, Inc.	HLIO	A

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Pentair plc has a Momentum Score of 17, which is Very Weak. Helios Technologies, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 90, which is Very Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: Helios Technologies, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, Helios Technologies, Inc. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Pentair plc. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, Helios Technologies, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Pentair plc, Helios Technologies and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Pentair plc	PNR	C
Helios Technologies, Inc.	HLIO	B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Pentair plc has a Earnings Estimate Score of 42, which is Neutral. Helios Technologies, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 77, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Helios Technologies, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Helios Technologies, Inc. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Pentair plc. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Helios Technologies, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Pentair plc, Helios Technologies and Inc. Grades

In addition to Momentum, Estimate Revisions and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Growth.

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Pentair plc, Helios Technologies and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Pentair plc, Helios Technologies or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Pentair plc stock has a Momentum Score of 17, Estimate Revisions Score of 42 and Quality Score of 91.

Helios Technologies, Inc. stock has a Momentum Score of 90, Estimate Revisions Score of 77 and Quality Score of 93.

Comparing Pentair plc, Helios Technologies and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.