National Bank of Canada FI Sells 2,798 Shares of Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL)

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its holdings in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL - Free Report) by 15.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,080 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 2,798 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Pool were worth $4,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pool by 107.8% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 41,097 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $13,083,000 after buying an additional 21,319 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Pool by 17.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 70,755 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $22,525,000 after buying an additional 10,421 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in shares of Pool by 127.1% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 8,494 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,704,000 after purchasing an additional 4,753 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Pool by 4.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 368,583 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $117,338,000 after acquiring an additional 14,422 shares during the period. Finally, ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in Pool in the first quarter valued at $294,000. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on POOL shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on 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 target price on Pool from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Pool from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 price target on Pool in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Pool from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $342.14.

Pool Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:POOL traded down $4.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $321.75. The company had a trading volume of 870,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 518,218. Pool Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $282.22 and a fifty-two week high of $395.60. The business's fifty day moving average is $304.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 2.52. The firm has a market cap of $12.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Pool announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. Pool's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.13%.

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.