Cetera Investment Advisers Raises Position in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,493 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 251 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Pool were worth $3,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Pool by 907.2% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 37,399 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,768,000 after purchasing an additional 33,686 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of Pool by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,076 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,571,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Pool by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,954 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,560,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. MFG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pool in the 1st quarter worth $921,000. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Pool by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 117,083 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $37,273,000 after purchasing an additional 2,460 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Pool from $322.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 price objective on Pool in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Pool from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stephens cut their price objective on Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Pool from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $342.14.

Pool Stock Performance

NASDAQ POOL opened at $311.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Pool Corporation has a 1 year low of $282.22 and a 1 year high of $395.60. The company has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a PE ratio of 28.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $302.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.57.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.79 billion. Pool had a net margin of 7.79% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Pool Corporation will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.13%.

Pool announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.