Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $2.28 Million Holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL – Get Rating) by 49.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,494 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Pool were worth $2,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Pool by 127.4% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,570 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC bought a new position in Pool in the fourth quarter valued at about $730,000. Eaton Vance Management grew its position in Pool by 4.1% in the third quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 84,175 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,785,000 after acquiring an additional 3,352 shares during the last quarter. Pendal Group Ltd grew its position in Pool by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Pendal Group Ltd now owns 9,063 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after acquiring an additional 1,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in Pool by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 24,900 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,528,000 after acquiring an additional 11,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.15% of the company’s stock.

Pool Price Performance

Shares of POOL opened at $340.53 on Wednesday. Pool Co. has a 52-week low of $278.10 and a 52-week high of $423.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $340.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $339.92. The firm has a market cap of $13.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.93.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The specialty retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.21). Pool had a net margin of 11.23% and a return on equity of 53.96%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. Pool’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pool Co. will post 15.09 EPS for the current year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is a positive change from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.17%.

Insider Transactions at Pool

In other news, General Counsel Jennifer M. Neil sold 2,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.00, for a total transaction of $821,216.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,849,440. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

POOL has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Pool from $340.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, April 24th. Stephens upgraded Pool from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $415.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, April 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Pool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Pool from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Pool from $320.00 to $315.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.20.

Pool Profile

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Pool Corp. engages in the wholesale distribution of swimming pool supplies, equipment, and related leisure products. It also offers non-discretionary pool maintenance products such as chemicals and replacement parts, discretionary products like packaged pool kits, whole goods, irrigation, and landscape products, including a complete line of commercial and residential irrigation products and parts, power equipment for the professional landscape market, specialty products such as outdoor lighting, grills, and outdoor kitchen components, and golf irrigation and water management products.