QRG Capital Management Inc. Buys Shares of 659 Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 659 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in Pool by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 3,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pool by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,029 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,166,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pool by 166.3% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,876 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 3,045 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pool by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,698 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,682,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pool by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 117,088 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $44,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on POOL shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Pool from $380.00 to $386.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Pool from $377.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Pool from $330.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Pool from $365.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Pool from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $369.11.

Pool Stock Performance

Shares of POOL stock opened at $374.99 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $363.30 and a 200 day moving average of $352.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.01. Pool Co. has a 1 year low of $293.51 and a 1 year high of $422.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 company’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 11 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 paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Pool’s payout ratio is currently 41.31%.

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.