Amalgamated Bank Lowers Stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Amalgamated Bank lowered its holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,830 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Pool were worth $2,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Pool by 22.7% in the third 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Pool by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 964,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $362,196,000 after purchasing an additional 6,232 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Pool by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 565,339 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $213,020,000 after buying an additional 3,428 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Pool by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 419,919 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $143,167,000 after buying an additional 3,575 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in Pool in the third quarter valued at approximately $152,249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 value of $3,460,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Pool Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ POOL opened at $347.00 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $342.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $355.50. Pool Co. has a 12 month low of $293.51 and a 12 month high of $422.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.03.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.08. Pool had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The company had revenue of $987.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.04 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on POOL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $368.00.

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.