Brokerages Set Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Target Price at $388.63

Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $401.50.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on POOL. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Pool from $407.00 to $436.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Pool in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. TheStreet lowered Pool from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered Pool from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th.

Pool Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of POOL opened at $361.13 on Monday. Pool has a 52 week low of $307.77 and a 52 week high of $422.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 2.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $394.15 and a 200-day moving average of $372.57.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.02. Pool had a return on equity of 37.94% and a net margin of 9.44%. The company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.79 EPS. Pool’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pool will post 13.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Pool’s payout ratio is currently 33.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pool news, General Counsel Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $401.00, for a total transaction of $441,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,457,422. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pool

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Pool by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 49,129 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $19,720,000 after buying an additional 4,877 shares during the period. James Hambro & Partners grew its stake in shares of Pool by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. James Hambro & Partners now owns 189,479 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $75,573,000 after buying an additional 33,402 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $73,322,000 after buying an additional 183,288 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Pool by 394.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,556 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after buying an additional 3,635 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pool in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,329,000. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.