Stephens Cuts Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) Price Target to $350.00

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) had its price objective decreased by Stephens from $400.00 to $350.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Pool from $360.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Pool in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $344.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Pool from $340.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $336.22.

Pool Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ POOL opened at $293.14 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Pool has a 1 year low of $284.28 and a 1 year high of $395.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average is $320.52 and its 200 day moving average is $343.21.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The specialty retailer reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.10). Pool had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pool will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Pool Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.03%.

Insider Transactions at Pool

In other Pool news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,651,642. The trade was a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of Pool stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,105. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pool

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pool during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $116,833,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Pool by 33,549.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 259,774 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $82,699,000 after acquiring an additional 259,002 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Pool by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $474,886,000 after purchasing an additional 232,914 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Pool by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,042,514 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $355,435,000 after acquiring an additional 224,674 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its holdings in Pool by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 598,689 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,117,000 after acquiring an additional 194,632 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

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.