Swiss National Bank Cuts Stock Position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 108,083 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 5,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Pool were worth $36,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of POOL. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Pool by 11.1% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 739 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Pool by 4.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,605 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $11,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Pool by 77.6% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Pool by 8.2% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,601 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,110,000 after buying an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of Pool by 3.7% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,103 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pool Stock Performance

Shares of POOL opened at $327.21 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $343.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $355.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $12.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. Pool Co. has a 52-week low of $293.51 and a 52-week high of $420.98.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $987.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.04 million. Pool had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 8.18%. Research analysts predict that Pool Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total value of $3,460,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,651,642. The trade was a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on POOL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $368.00.

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.