Cerity Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 1,113 Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,113 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $444,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pool by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,845,204 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $657,077,000 after buying an additional 63,413 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Pool by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 865,362 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $308,156,000 after buying an additional 313,190 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Pool by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 777,707 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $276,941,000 after buying an additional 12,389 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Pool by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 634,329 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $225,885,000 after buying an additional 114,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pool by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 606,678 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $216,038,000 after buying an additional 59,757 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pool

In other Pool news, General Counsel Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.00, for a total value of $441,100.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,622 shares in the company, valued at $3,457,422. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Pool from $407.00 to $436.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. TheStreet cut shares of Pool from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Pool in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Loop Capital cut shares of Pool from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $397.80.

Pool Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:POOL opened at $370.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.24 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $393.49 and its 200 day moving average is $373.57. Pool Co. has a 52 week low of $307.77 and a 52 week high of $422.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.02. Pool had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 37.94%. The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Pool Co. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Pool’s payout ratio is 33.03%.

About Pool

Pool Corporation distributes swimming pool supplies, equipment, and related leisure products in the United States and internationally. The company offers maintenance products, including chemicals, supplies, and pool accessories; repair and replacement parts for pool equipment, such as cleaners, filters, heaters, pumps, and lights; and building materials, such as concrete, plumbing and electrical components, functional and decorative pool surfaces, decking materials, tiles, hardscapes, and natural stones for pool installations and remodeling.