Avanza Fonder AB Purchases Shares of 4,273 Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,273 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,457,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. JGP Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pool by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $11,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Pool by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,269 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Pool by 113.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 21,810 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,436,000 after buying an additional 11,580 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pool in the fourth quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pool by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,411 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pool Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:POOL opened at $350.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 2.39. The company has a market capitalization of $13.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $355.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $353.86. Pool Co. has a 52 week low of $293.51 and a 52 week high of $422.73.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The specialty retailer reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Pool had a net margin of 8.42% and a return on equity of 31.89%. Pool’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.50 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 11.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is 41.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on POOL. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Pool from $380.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Pool from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Pool from $330.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Pool from $377.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Pool from $345.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pool has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $369.25.

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.