Quest Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Quest Partners LLC lowered its stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,040 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 3,533 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Pool were worth $392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in POOL. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Pool by 3.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 42,735 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $16,102,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC increased its stake in Pool by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 1,966 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $741,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pool by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 54,876 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,677,000 after acquiring an additional 5,402 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in shares of Pool by 411.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 15,128 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,700,000 after acquiring an additional 12,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pool by 3.7% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,103 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Pool Price Performance

Shares of POOL stock opened at $366.49 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $365.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $352.29. Pool Co. has a 52-week low of $293.51 and a 52-week high of $422.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 2.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.01.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The specialty retailer reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Pool had a net margin of 8.42% and a return on equity of 31.89%. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Pool Co. will post 11 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on POOL. StockNews.com raised shares of Pool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Pool from $380.00 to $386.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Pool from $345.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Pool from $377.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Pool from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $369.11.

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.