Focus Partners Wealth Grows Position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL - Free Report) by 907.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,399 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 33,686 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth owned approximately 0.10% of Pool worth $12,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of POOL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Pool by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $474,886,000 after buying an additional 232,914 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Pool by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,028 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,714,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Pool by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 8,252 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,813,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its holdings in Pool by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 13,619 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,643,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Pool by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 2,409 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $821,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on POOL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Pool in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $344.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 target price on Pool in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut Pool from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Stephens lowered their target price on Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 target price on Pool in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $336.22.

Pool Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of Pool stock traded up $7.29 on Friday, reaching $320.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 825,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,419. The company has a market capitalization of $12.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $310.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $338.66. Pool Co. has a 52 week low of $284.28 and a 52 week high of $395.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The specialty retailer reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 31.11% and a net margin of 8.18%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.85 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. This is a positive change from Pool's previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. Pool's payout ratio is presently 46.90%.

Pool declared that its board 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 repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of Pool stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,045,105. The trade was a 11.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $3,460,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,651,642. The trade was a 13.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Pool

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.