Oak Thistle LLC Buys New Position in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,042 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $968,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Pool by 471.4% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 80 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Pool during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Pool by 790.9% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 98 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pool during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pool during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 98.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 price objective on Pool in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Pool from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Pool from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised Pool from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Stephens decreased their target price on Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pool has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $338.71.

Pool Trading Down 0.4%

POOL traded down $1.44 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $324.90. 755,036 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 718,168. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $301.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $317.82. Pool Corporation has a 52-week low of $282.22 and a 52-week high of $395.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a PE ratio of 29.97, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 1.10.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.05. Pool had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 7.79%. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.99 EPS. Pool's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Pool Corporation will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. This is a positive change from Pool's previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Pool's payout ratio is presently 46.90%.

Pool declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is 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.