Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Acquires 2,827 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 117,088 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,827 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Pool were worth $44,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in POOL. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Pool during the 1st quarter worth approximately $96,528,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Pool by 37,863.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 137,808 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $51,926,000 after purchasing an additional 137,445 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Pool by 67.4% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 306,447 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $123,651,000 after purchasing an additional 123,387 shares in the last quarter. Caledonia Investments PLC bought a new stake in Pool in the second quarter valued at $37,390,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Pool by 26.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 433,166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $133,125,000 after purchasing an additional 90,951 shares during the period. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on POOL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Pool from $365.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Pool from $345.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Pool from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Pool from $380.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $369.11.

Pool Stock Performance

Shares of POOL opened at $361.64 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $360.80 and a 200 day moving average of $352.76. The company has a market capitalization of $13.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.01. Pool Co. has a 12 month low of $293.51 and a 12 month high of $422.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The specialty retailer reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Pool had a return on equity of 31.89% and a net margin of 8.42%. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is 41.31%.

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.