Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Buys 752 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,541 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 752 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Pool were worth $5,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in POOL. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pool during the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Pool by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 818 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pool by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,725 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Pool by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 3,235 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pool by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 9,272 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,302,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on POOL. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Loop Capital downgraded Pool from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Pool from $436.00 to $416.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Pool from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $391.80.

Pool Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Pool stock traded up $4.54 on Friday, hitting $364.65. The company had a trading volume of 430,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,506. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.01. Pool Co. has a 1 year low of $307.77 and a 1 year high of $422.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $390.55 and a 200-day moving average of $374.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.88.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. Pool had a return on equity of 35.49% and a net margin of 9.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $401.00, for a total value of $441,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,457,422. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.