Baird Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in Pool Corporation $POOL

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Pool Corporation by 80.9% in the first quarter, selling 130,417 shares and retaining only 30,819 shares valued at approximately $9.81 million.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Pool Corporation, with Oppenheimer increasing it to $346.00 and Robert W. Baird to $340.00, reflecting a generally positive outlook on the stock.
• Pool Corporation recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $5.00 and a yield of 1.6%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL - Free Report) by 80.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,819 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 130,417 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.08% of Pool worth $9,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Pool by 471.4% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 80 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Pool in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Pool by 790.9% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 98 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Pool in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Pool in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 98.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pool Trading Up 5.5%

NASDAQ:POOL traded up $17.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $333.09. The company had a trading volume of 988,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 445,452. The company has a market cap of $12.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Pool Corporation has a 1 year low of $282.22 and a 1 year high of $395.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $310.87 and a 200 day moving average of $311.88.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.79 billion. Pool had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 7.79%.The company's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.99 EPS. Pool has set its FY 2025 guidance at 10.700-11.200 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Pool Corporation will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Pool's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pool from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Pool from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Pool from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Pool from $322.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $342.14.

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.