Brokerages Set Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) PT at $368.00

Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $368.00.

POOL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Pool Price Performance

NASDAQ POOL opened at $364.12 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $343.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $355.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $13.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.28, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. Pool has a 1 year low of $293.51 and a 1 year high of $420.98.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.08. Pool had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 8.18%. The company had revenue of $987.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $961.04 million. On average, analysts predict that Pool will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Pool’s payout ratio is 42.55%.

Insider Activity at Pool

In other Pool news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total transaction of $3,460,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,651,642. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pool

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pool by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,443,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,514,950,000 after buying an additional 21,870 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Pool by 22.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $474,886,000 after purchasing an additional 232,914 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Pool by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,042,514 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $355,435,000 after purchasing an additional 224,674 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pool by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 977,862 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $332,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Pool by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 763,817 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $260,416,000 after purchasing an additional 44,884 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Pool Company 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.