Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Trims Stake in Pool Corporation $POOL

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its holdings in Pool Corporation by 9.9%, now owning 198,085 shares valued at approximately $63 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their positions in Pool during Q1, with Whipplewood Advisors boosting its position by 471.4%.
• Pool Corporation's recent earnings report showed a net margin of 7.79% and earnings per share of $5.17, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lowered its position in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL - Free Report) by 9.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 198,085 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 21,718 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 0.53% of Pool worth $63,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of POOL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Pool by 471.4% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 80 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Pool in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Pool in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Pool by 790.9% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 98 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pool during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company's stock.

Pool Trading Up 2.8%

POOL stock traded up $8.8030 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $324.8830. The company had a trading volume of 324,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 517,996. The stock has a market cap of $12.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.06, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $304.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $313.92. 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 52 week low of $282.22 and a 52 week high of $395.60.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.79 billion. Pool had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 7.79%.The firm's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.99 earnings per share. Pool has set its FY 2025 guidance at 10.700-11.200 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Pool Corporation will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool declared that its board has approved a share buyback 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 repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Pool Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Pool's payout ratio is presently 46.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 price target on Pool in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Pool from $322.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Pool from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Pool from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $342.14.

Pool 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.