Blue Trust Inc. Boosts Holdings in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) by 20.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Pool were worth $72,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in POOL. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Pool by 907.2% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 37,399 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,768,000 after acquiring an additional 33,686 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its position in Pool by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 3,383 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Pool during the 4th quarter valued at about $429,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in Pool by 104.0% in the fourth quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 3,778 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,288,000 after buying an additional 1,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Pool by 1,486.5% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,207,000 after buying an additional 6,496 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pool news, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of Pool stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pool Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of POOL opened at $294.26 on Friday. Pool Corporation has a twelve month low of $282.22 and a twelve month high of $395.60. The company has a market cap of $11.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $300.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $324.43.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last posted its quarterly 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). Pool had a return on equity of 30.11% and a net margin of 7.77%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Pool Corporation will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Pool announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Pool Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

POOL has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Pool in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $344.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $342.00.

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.