Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Buys Shares of 17,795 Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 17,795 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $7,378,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pool by 30,047.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 183,898 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $73,322,000 after purchasing an additional 183,288 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Pool by 585.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 183,060 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $72,988,000 after purchasing an additional 156,361 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Pool during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,697,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pool by 711.3% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 123,419 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $49,208,000 after purchasing an additional 108,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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. 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. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Pool from $416.00 to $356.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Stephens cut their price objective on Pool from $425.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Pool from $338.00 to $290.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Pool from $380.00 to $305.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Pool currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $328.00.

Pool Trading Up 0.9 %

POOL traded up $2.70 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $298.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 585,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 357,348. Pool Co. has a twelve month low of $293.51 and a twelve month high of $422.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $345.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $373.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.00.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.02). Pool had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 35.49%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. Pool’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Pool Co. will post 10.94 EPS for the current year.

Pool Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This is an increase from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Pool’s payout ratio is currently 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.