Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $555,000 Stock Position in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) by 12.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 248 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Pool were worth $555,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of POOL. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Pool by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,523 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $914,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Pool by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 81,150 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,665,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new position in Pool in the 4th quarter valued at about $228,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Pool by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 5,409 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Pool by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on POOL shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 target price on shares of Pool in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Pool from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Pool from $322.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pool currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $342.14.

Pool Stock Performance

Shares of Pool stock opened at $326.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $303.63 and a 200-day moving average of $314.76. Pool Corporation has a 1-year low of $282.22 and a 1-year high of $395.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a PE ratio of 30.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 1.07.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.05. Pool had a net margin of 7.79% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pool Corporation will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.13%.

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

Pool 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.