Ascent Group LLC Has $518,000 Holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,285 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Pool were worth $518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pool by 30,047.2% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 183,898 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,322,000 after acquiring an additional 183,288 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Pool by 585.6% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 183,060 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $72,988,000 after acquiring an additional 156,361 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Pool in the fourth quarter worth about $44,697,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Pool by 711.3% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 123,419 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $49,208,000 after purchasing an additional 108,207 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Pool by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 332,462 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $132,556,000 after purchasing an additional 90,145 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on POOL shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Pool from $356.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Pool from $338.00 to $290.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Pool from $360.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Pool from $365.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Pool from $305.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $347.22.

Pool Trading Up 0.5 %

POOL traded up $1.93 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $371.06. The stock had a trading volume of 96,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 372,226. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.00. 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 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 2.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $336.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $368.38.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The specialty retailer reported $4.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.90 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.74 billion. Pool had a return on equity of 32.85% and a net margin of 8.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Pool Co. will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. This is a boost from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.56%.

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.