Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) Shares Sold by Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC decreased its stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,470 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,943 shares during the period. Pool accounts for about 4.1% of Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC owned 0.35% of Pool worth $50,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pool by 1.6% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,102,921 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $646,291,000 after acquiring an additional 33,955 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Pool by 1.3% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 854,709 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $262,678,000 after acquiring an additional 11,059 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Pool by 26.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 433,166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $133,125,000 after acquiring an additional 90,951 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Pool by 9.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 430,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $132,244,000 after acquiring an additional 37,598 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Pool by 3.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 343,382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $105,531,000 after acquiring an additional 12,152 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Pool Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ POOL opened at $372.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.01. Pool Co. has a fifty-two week low of $293.51 and a fifty-two week high of $422.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 2.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $362.83 and a 200-day moving average of $352.89.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The specialty retailer reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Pool had a return on equity of 31.89% and a net margin of 8.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pool Co. will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Pool’s payout ratio is 41.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on POOL. StockNews.com upgraded Pool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 2nd. Loop Capital raised their target price on Pool from $345.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Pool from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Pool from $365.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $369.11.

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.