Wasatch Advisors LP Buys 45,953 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 525,004 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,953 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP owned 1.36% of Pool worth $211,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of POOL. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Pool during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Pool by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 77 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pool in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pool by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Pool by 11,800.0% during the fourth quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 119 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pool Trading Down 2.0 %

POOL stock traded down $6.29 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $301.40. 347,922 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 354,245. Pool Co. has a 1 year low of $299.24 and a 1 year high of $422.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $352.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $376.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.02). Pool had a return on equity of 35.49% and a net margin of 9.17%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Pool Co. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This is a positive change from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on POOL. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Pool from $380.00 to $305.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Pool from $416.00 to $356.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Pool from $360.00 to $290.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on Pool from $370.00 to $305.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $328.00.

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.