New York State Teachers Retirement System Trims Stock Position in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,655 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Pool were worth $9,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Pool by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,076 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,571,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Pool by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,803 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Pool by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,954 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,560,000 after buying an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank raised its stake in shares of Pool by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. CNB Bank now owns 969 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MFG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pool during the 1st quarter valued at about $921,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Pool Trading Down 0.4%

POOL stock opened at $301.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Pool Corporation has a 12-month low of $282.22 and a 12-month high of $395.60. The stock has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average is $300.65 and its 200 day moving average is $321.60.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The specialty retailer reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.10). Pool had a return on equity of 30.11% and a net margin of 7.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pool Corporation will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Pool Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. This is a boost from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Pool’s payout ratio is presently 46.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

POOL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens reduced their price objective on Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 target price on Pool in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Pool in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $344.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Pool from $370.00 to $322.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $342.00.

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.