Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Purchases 137 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 34.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 531 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Pool were worth $181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pool by 2,300.0% in the fourth 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. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Pool in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pool during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Pool by 76.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 138 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Pool in the third quarter worth about $60,000. 98.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Pool news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at $21,651,642. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Pool Price Performance

NASDAQ POOL opened at $318.35 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $339.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $353.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 2.05. Pool Co. has a 52-week low of $293.51 and a 52-week high of $403.61.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $987.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.04 million. Pool had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 8.18%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s payout ratio is 42.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on POOL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pool presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $368.00.

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.