Pitcairn Co. Acquires New Position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Pitcairn Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 940 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of POOL. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pool by 30,047.2% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 183,898 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,322,000 after buying an additional 183,288 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Pool by 585.6% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 183,060 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $72,988,000 after acquiring an additional 156,361 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Pool in the fourth quarter valued at $44,697,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pool by 711.3% during the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 123,419 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $49,208,000 after purchasing an additional 108,207 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Pool by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 332,462 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $132,556,000 after purchasing an additional 90,145 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on POOL shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Pool from $360.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Pool from $416.00 to $356.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Pool from $360.00 to $290.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Pool from $380.00 to $305.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Pool from $425.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pool has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $321.75.

Pool Price Performance

NASDAQ:POOL traded up $32.75 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $359.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,077,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 370,720. The company has a market capitalization of $13.80 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Pool Co. has a 52-week low of $293.51 and a 52-week high of $422.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $336.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $368.75.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. Pool had a return on equity of 35.49% and a net margin of 9.17%. Pool’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This is a boost from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.56%.

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.