Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Announces $1.20 Quarterly Dividend

Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of 1.20 per share by the specialty retailer on Wednesday, March 26th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th.

Pool has raised its dividend by an average of 16.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Pool has a payout ratio of 38.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Pool to earn $12.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.4%.

Pool Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:POOL opened at $364.31 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. Pool has a 1-year low of $293.51 and a 1-year high of $422.73. The company’s fifty day moving average is $343.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $355.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 2.05.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $987.48 million for 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Pool will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Pool news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.