Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $369.25.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on POOL. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Pool from $377.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Pool from $345.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Pool from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Pool from $380.00 to $386.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Pool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday.

Pool Price Performance

POOL stock opened at $339.68 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $357.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $353.29. Pool has a 52-week low of $293.51 and a 52-week high of $422.73. The company has a market capitalization of $12.93 billion, a PE ratio of 29.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The specialty retailer reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.11. Pool had a return on equity of 31.89% and a net margin of 8.42%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Pool will post 11.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pool

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of POOL. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Pool by 115.7% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 908 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pool by 31.1% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,126 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,034,000 after buying an additional 3,115 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pool by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 343,382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $105,531,000 after acquiring an additional 12,152 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Pool by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 296,063 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $90,992,000 after acquiring an additional 23,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pool by 31.9% in the 2nd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 8,253 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,536,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995 shares during the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.