DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Buys 13,040 Shares of Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL - Free Report) by 77.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,893 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 13,040 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.08% of Pool worth $9,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Pool by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,443,451 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,514,950,000 after buying an additional 21,870 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Pool by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,042,514 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $355,435,000 after buying an additional 224,674 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pool by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 977,862 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $332,566,000 after buying an additional 13,519 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Pool by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 763,817 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $260,416,000 after buying an additional 44,884 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Pool by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 636,007 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $216,840,000 after buying an additional 129,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

POOL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of 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 decreased their price target on shares of Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Pool in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating and a $344.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 price target on shares of Pool in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pool presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $344.50.

Pool Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:POOL traded down $5.05 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $301.28. The company had a trading volume of 259,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 425,564. The company's 50 day moving average price is $301.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $319.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.10. Pool Corporation has a 52-week low of $282.22 and a 52-week high of $395.60.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The specialty retailer reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.10). Pool had a return on equity of 30.11% and a net margin of 7.77%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. Pool's quarterly revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pool Corporation will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pool announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Pool Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from Pool's previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Pool's payout ratio is currently 46.90%.

Pool Company Profile

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.