Baird Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 255,586 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 13,755 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Pool were worth $88,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Pool by 2,375.7% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 17,107 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,906,000 after buying an additional 16,416 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Pool by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 322,636 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $120,182,000 after buying an additional 7,195 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in Pool by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 92,454 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $34,439,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp boosted its stake in Pool by 2.6% during the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 10,925 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,772,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Pool by 3.3% during the first quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,976 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,099,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. 90.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
In related news, Vice Chairman De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 17,106 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $428.20, for a total transaction of $7,324,789.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 70,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,120,444.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.80, for a total value of $773,286.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 12,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,511,655.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,711 shares of company stock valued at $21,757,571. 4.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
POOL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Pool from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 4th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Pool from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Pool from $360.00 to $444.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 23rd. Zacks Investment Research lowered Pool from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $362.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Pool in a research note on Tuesday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $535.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.29.
NASDAQ POOL opened at $436.53 on Friday. Pool Co. has a 1-year low of $256.85 and a 1-year high of $449.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $421.46. The company has a market cap of $17.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95 and a beta of 0.79.
Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 21st. The specialty retailer reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $1.27. Pool had a return on equity of 71.77% and a net margin of 10.06%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $825.73 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. Pool’s revenue for the quarter was up 56.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pool Co. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 17th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Pool’s payout ratio is 38.00%.
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; fiberglass pools, and hot tubs and packaged pool kits comprising walls, liners, braces, and coping for in-ground and above-ground pools; pool equipment and components for new pool construction and the remodeling of existing pools; and irrigation and related products consisting of irrigation system components, and professional lawn care equipment and supplies.
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