Aristotle Capital Boston LLC Sells 1,335 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Aristotle Capital Boston LLC decreased its stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL - Free Report) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,640 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 1,335 shares during the quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC's holdings in Pool were worth $3,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in POOL. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Pool by 816.8% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 40,860 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $13,601,000 after acquiring an additional 36,403 shares during the last quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP acquired a new stake in Pool during the 4th quarter worth $653,000. World Equity Group Inc. bought a new position in Pool during the fourth quarter worth about $272,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Pool by 104.0% during the fourth quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 3,778 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Pool by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,056 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $16,725,000 after acquiring an additional 10,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on POOL shares. Stephens lowered their target price on Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 price target on shares of Pool in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price target on Pool in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Pool from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pool has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $336.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pool

In related news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of Pool stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,045,105. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Pool Stock Performance

Pool stock traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $295.79. 473,101 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 386,585. Pool Co. has a fifty-two week low of $284.28 and a fifty-two week high of $395.60. The stock has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $315.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $340.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The specialty retailer reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Pool had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 8.18%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This is an increase from Pool's previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. Pool's payout ratio is 46.90%.

Pool announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $600.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.