Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Stock Position Increased by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,222 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Pool were worth $7,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in shares of Pool during the third quarter valued at about $152,249,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pool during the 4th quarter valued at $116,833,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Pool by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $474,886,000 after buying an additional 232,914 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Pool in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,750,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Pool by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 274,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $93,474,000 after purchasing an additional 69,435 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on POOL. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $368.00.

Pool Price Performance

POOL opened at $320.14 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $342.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $354.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Pool Co. has a 1 year low of $293.51 and a 1 year high of $418.32. The stock has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.38, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Pool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.55%.

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.