Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.25

Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 30th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of 1.25 per share by the specialty retailer on Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This is a 4.2% increase from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20.

Pool has increased its dividend payment by an average of 16.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Pool has a payout ratio of 41.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Pool to earn $12.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.0%.

Pool Stock Performance

Shares of POOL opened at $319.02 on Tuesday. Pool has a 12 month low of $284.28 and a 12 month high of $395.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $313.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $339.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $11.99 billion, a PE ratio of 28.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

POOL has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $322.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 target price on shares of Pool in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price target on shares of Pool in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Pool in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $344.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $336.22.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,667 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,105. The trade was a 11.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total transaction of $3,460,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,651,642. This represents a 13.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Pool

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.