Brokerages Set Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Price Target at $369.25

Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $369.25.

POOL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Pool from $330.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Pool from $377.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Pool from $380.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com cut Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Pool from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th.

Pool Stock Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ:POOL opened at $359.18 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $355.49 and a 200 day moving average of $354.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $13.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.03. Pool has a 1-year low of $293.51 and a 1-year high of $422.73.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The specialty retailer reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Pool had a return on equity of 31.89% and a net margin of 8.42%. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pool will post 11.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Pool by 115.7% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 908 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Pool by 31.1% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,126 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,034,000 after purchasing an additional 3,115 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pool by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 343,382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $105,531,000 after buying an additional 12,152 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Pool by 8.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 296,063 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $90,992,000 after acquiring an additional 23,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC lifted its stake in Pool by 31.9% during the second quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 8,253 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,536,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares during the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.