Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 1,198 Shares of Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,386 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 1,198 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Pool were worth $2,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of POOL. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its holdings in Pool by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 15,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $5,353,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pool during the fourth quarter valued at about $12,438,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pool by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Pool by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 138 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Pool by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 193,034 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $65,813,000 after buying an additional 26,521 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Pool in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating and a $344.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $322.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 target price on shares of Pool in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $342.00.

Pool Trading Down 0.5%

POOL stock opened at $292.77 on Monday. Pool Corporation has a twelve month low of $282.22 and a twelve month high of $395.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $300.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $323.18.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). Pool had a net margin of 7.77% and a return on equity of 30.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Pool Corporation will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Pool Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. This is a boost from Pool's previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. Pool's payout ratio is presently 46.90%.

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.

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