Allianz SE Takes Position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Allianz SE purchased a new stake in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,098,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in shares of Pool during the 3rd quarter valued at $152,249,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Pool during the fourth quarter valued at $116,833,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Pool by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $474,886,000 after purchasing an additional 232,914 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Pool by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 636,007 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $216,840,000 after purchasing an additional 129,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in shares of Pool during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,750,000. 98.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Pool

In other news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on POOL. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $368.00.

Pool Price Performance

Shares of Pool stock opened at $314.92 on Monday. Pool Co. has a 1-year low of $293.51 and a 1-year high of $403.61. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $340.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $353.55. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $11.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.92, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last released 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 company had revenue of $987.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $961.04 million. Pool had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 31.11%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.55%.

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.