True North Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

True North Advisors LLC bought a new position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 635 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Pool during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Pool in the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in shares of Pool by 101.2% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 326 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank grew its position in shares of Pool by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 412 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Pool by 24.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

POOL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Pool from $330.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Pool from $377.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Pool from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Pool from $380.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $369.25.

Pool Stock Performance

Shares of POOL opened at $362.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.78 billion, a PE ratio of 31.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $355.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $355.03. Pool Co. has a 52-week low of $293.51 and a 52-week high of $422.73.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The specialty retailer reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.11. Pool had a net margin of 8.42% and a return on equity of 31.89%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pool Co. will post 11.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.31%.

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.