12,500 Shares in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Bought by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 12,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,262,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pool in the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Pool by 4.7% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp acquired a new position in Pool in the third quarter valued at about $244,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Pool in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Pool by 14.0% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 30,793 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $11,603,000 after purchasing an additional 3,788 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Pool

In other 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 shares were sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total transaction of $3,460,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at $21,651,642. The trade was a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Pool Stock Performance

Shares of POOL opened at $326.93 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.98, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. Pool Co. has a 12 month low of $293.51 and a 12 month high of $415.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $342.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $354.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $987.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.04 million. Pool had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 31.11%. Research analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $368.00.

About Pool

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.