Wedmont Private Capital Grows Stock Holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 590 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Pool were worth $236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its position in shares of Pool by 162.8% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 4,358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in Pool by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 6,805 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,746,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its position in Pool by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,526 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd raised its position in Pool by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 11,743 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,738,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Pool by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 311 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on POOL. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Pool from $436.00 to $416.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Pool from $415.00 to $370.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $382.80.

Pool Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of POOL stock opened at $337.92 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $360.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $379.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02. Pool Co. has a fifty-two week low of $308.45 and a fifty-two week high of $422.73.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. Pool had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 35.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. Research analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Pool’s payout ratio is currently 37.56%.

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.