Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) by 47.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,471 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 42,112 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Pool worth $14,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of POOL. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Pool by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 972 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Pool in the 4th quarter valued at $12,438,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Pool by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,150 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,438,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Pool by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 5,024 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Pool by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,976 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on POOL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Pool in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $344.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $322.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Pool in a report on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $344.50.

Pool Stock Performance

Pool stock opened at $306.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $301.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $320.17. Pool Corporation has a twelve month low of $282.22 and a twelve month high of $395.60.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The specialty retailer reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Pool had a return on equity of 30.11% and a net margin of 7.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.85 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Pool Corporation will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Pool’s payout ratio is presently 46.90%.

Pool declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $600.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty retailer to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Pool Profile

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.