Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) Board of Directors Approves Stock Buyback Program

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th, RTT News reports. The company plans 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 generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

POOL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens decreased their target price on Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Pool in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $344.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $322.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pool presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $336.22.

Pool Stock Performance

NASDAQ:POOL opened at $306.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $318.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $342.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.13. Pool has a 1-year low of $284.28 and a 1-year high of $395.60.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued 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 net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.85 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Pool will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. Pool’s payout ratio is 45.03%.

Insider Activity at Pool

In related news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total value of $3,460,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,651,642. The trade was a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,105. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.