GW&K Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,938 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Pool were worth $7,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Pool during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $888,000. Balentine LLC bought a new stake in Pool during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $343,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pool by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,029 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pool by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,399 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,349,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Pool in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,697,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pool

In other news, General Counsel Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,100 shares of the company’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 transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,622 shares in the company, valued at $3,457,422. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on POOL. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Pool from $436.00 to $416.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. TheStreet lowered shares of Pool from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $391.80.

Pool Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of POOL opened at $367.60 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $382.58 and its 200 day moving average is $378.95. Pool Co. has a fifty-two week low of $307.77 and a fifty-two week high of $422.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of 28.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.88.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.02). Pool had a return on equity of 35.49% and a net margin of 9.17%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This is a boost from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Pool’s payout ratio is 37.56%.

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.