Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Purchases 875 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 73.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,064 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 875 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Pool were worth $704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of POOL. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Pool during the fourth quarter worth about $116,833,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Pool by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $474,886,000 after buying an additional 232,914 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Pool by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,042,514 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $355,435,000 after buying an additional 224,674 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Pool by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 636,007 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $216,840,000 after buying an additional 129,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Pool during the fourth quarter valued at $36,203,000. 98.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pool Price Performance

NASDAQ POOL opened at $291.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Pool Co. has a 1-year low of $284.28 and a 1-year high of $395.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.85, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $323.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $344.69.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The specialty retailer reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Pool had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 31.11%. On average, equities analysts predict that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pool

In other news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 62,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,651,642. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,105. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

POOL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Pool in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $344.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Pool from $340.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Pool from $360.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $348.33.

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.