Bank of Montreal Can Sells 299 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Bank of Montreal Can cut its stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,442 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 299 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.09% of Pool worth $11,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of POOL. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pool by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,912 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,476,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in Pool by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,342 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Pool by 174.0% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 5,689 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,144,000 after purchasing an additional 3,613 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pool by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 964,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $362,196,000 after buying an additional 6,232 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Pool by 2.1% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 13,651 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,144,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pool

In other Pool news, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,667 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,105. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total value of $3,460,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,651,642. The trade was a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Pool Stock Performance

Shares of Pool stock opened at $311.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $330.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $349.21. The firm has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.13. Pool Co. has a 12 month low of $284.28 and a 12 month high of $395.60.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.08. Pool had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The business had revenue of $987.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.04 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on POOL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Pool in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $344.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued 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 a consensus target price of $365.33.

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.