Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 188.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 709 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 463 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Pool were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Pool by 0.8% during the second quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,544 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP boosted its holdings in Pool by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 1,278 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Pool by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 777 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association increased its holdings in shares of Pool by 4.2% in the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 747 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel raised its position in shares of Pool by 0.6% in the second quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 5,018 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on POOL shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Pool from $356.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Pool from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Pool from $330.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Pool from $365.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $357.89.

Pool Price Performance

Shares of Pool stock opened at $377.33 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $359.31 and a 200-day moving average of $353.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 2.48. Pool Co. has a 52-week low of $293.51 and a 52-week high of $422.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.01.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The specialty retailer reported $4.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.90 by $0.09. Pool had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 32.85%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 10.98 EPS for the current year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.47%.

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.