Values First Advisors Inc. Has $730,000 Stock Position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Values First Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,831 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 574 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Pool were worth $730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of POOL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Pool by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,424,510 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,870,904,000 after acquiring an additional 12,654 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Pool by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,745,914 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,403,369,000 after buying an additional 93,012 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pool by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,845,204 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $657,077,000 after acquiring an additional 63,413 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Pool by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,510,384 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $565,850,000 after acquiring an additional 54,292 shares during the period. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in Pool by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,502,159 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $454,148,000 after acquiring an additional 139,946 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

POOL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TheStreet cut shares of Pool from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Pool in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Pool from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $371.00 to $368.00 in a research report on Friday, December 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Pool in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Pool from $407.00 to $436.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $388.63.

Pool Stock Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ POOL traded down $11.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $403.50. 711,594 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 324,660. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.01. Pool Co. has a twelve month low of $307.77 and a twelve month high of $422.73. The business’s 50-day moving average is $393.06 and its 200-day moving average is $368.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 2.36.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Pool had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 37.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pool Co. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Pool’s payout ratio is 33.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pool news, General Counsel Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.00, for a total value of $441,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,457,422. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.