Cibc World Markets Corp Grows Position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Cibc World Markets Corp increased its position in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,990 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 753 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Pool were worth $2,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in POOL. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pool by 2,300.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in Pool in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Pool in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Pool in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Pool by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 138 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

POOL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pool presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $368.00.

Pool Price Performance

POOL stock opened at $320.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.38, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. Pool Co. has a twelve month low of $293.51 and a twelve month high of $420.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $342.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $354.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.08. Pool had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 8.18%. The firm had revenue of $987.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $961.04 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pool Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pool news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,651,642. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Pool Company 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.