Prospect Capital Advisors LLC Sells 5,540 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Prospect Capital Advisors LLC cut its position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL - Free Report) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,720 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 5,540 shares during the quarter. Pool makes up approximately 3.7% of Prospect Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Prospect Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Pool were worth $6,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Pool by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,443,451 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,514,950,000 after purchasing an additional 21,870 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Pool by 22.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $474,886,000 after acquiring an additional 232,914 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Pool by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,042,514 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $355,435,000 after acquiring an additional 224,674 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pool by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 977,862 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $332,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Pool by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 763,817 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $260,416,000 after acquiring an additional 44,884 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

POOL has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pool from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $322.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Pool in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $336.22.

Pool Stock Performance

NASDAQ POOL opened at $309.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20. Pool Co. has a 1-year low of $284.28 and a 1-year high of $395.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $311.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $339.05.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Pool had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 8.18%. The business's revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Pool Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This is an increase from Pool's previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. Pool's payout ratio is currently 46.90%.

Pool declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $600.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 9,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,105. The trade was a 11.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 owns 62,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,651,642. This trade represents a 13.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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