Citigroup Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL)

Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) by 107.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,097 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,319 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Pool were worth $13,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Pool by 17.3% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 70,755 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $22,525,000 after acquiring an additional 10,421 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its position in shares of Pool by 127.1% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 8,494 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,704,000 after acquiring an additional 4,753 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pool by 4.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 368,583 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $117,338,000 after acquiring an additional 14,422 shares in the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Pool in the first quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pool by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,456,246 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,418,646,000 after acquiring an additional 12,795 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Pool Price Performance

POOL stock opened at $326.09 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $303.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $314.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 1.07. Pool Corporation has a 52-week low of $282.22 and a 52-week high of $395.60.

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

Pool announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. 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 (DPR) is 46.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.