Teacher Retirement System of Texas Makes New Investment in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,565 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,772,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Pool by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 786 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Pool by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 972 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Pool in the 4th quarter worth about $12,438,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Pool by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,150 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,438,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Pool by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 5,024 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. 98.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on POOL shares. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $322.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 price target on Pool in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Pool in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating and a $344.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pool currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $344.50.

Pool Trading Down 1.6%

Pool stock traded down $4.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $306.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 435,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 428,808. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $11.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $301.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $320.48. Pool Corporation has a 12 month low of $282.22 and a 12 month high of $395.60.

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

Pool declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $600.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Pool Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from Pool's previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Pool's dividend payout ratio is 46.90%.

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.