JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 232,914 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Pool were worth $474,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in POOL. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in shares of Pool during the 3rd quarter worth $152,249,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Pool by 37,863.6% during 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. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Pool in the third quarter worth about $40,750,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in shares of Pool by 44.3% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 217,572 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $81,981,000 after purchasing an additional 66,791 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Pool by 1,250.8% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 57,802 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $21,785,000 after purchasing an additional 53,523 shares during the period. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Pool from $345.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Pool from $380.00 to $386.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Pool from $330.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Pool from $377.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $369.25.

Pool Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:POOL opened at $345.10 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $364.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $352.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.70, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.01. Pool Co. has a one year low of $293.51 and a one year high of $422.73.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The specialty retailer reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.11. Pool had a return on equity of 31.89% and a net margin of 8.42%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pool Co. will post 11.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.