Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Receives $359.22 Average Price Target from Analysts

Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $336.22.

POOL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut Pool from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Pool in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Pool in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $344.00 price target on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of Pool stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total transaction of $3,460,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,651,642. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,105. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pool

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in POOL. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Pool by 2,300.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pool by 471.4% during the first 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. acquired a new position in Pool during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Pool in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Pool during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pool Price Performance

Shares of POOL traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $293.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 631,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 384,218. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $320.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $343.21. Pool has a 1-year low of $284.28 and a 1-year high of $395.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The specialty retailer reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.10). Pool had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 8.18%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. Pool's revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Pool will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Pool Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. 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 dividend yield of 1.71%. Pool's payout ratio is currently 45.03%.

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.