Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 79.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,081 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 23,476 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Pool were worth $18,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in POOL. Torray Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pool by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 14,580 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,971,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Pool by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 354,161 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $120,748,000 after buying an additional 6,344 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Pool by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 972 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Pool during the 4th quarter worth about $131,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Pool by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 786 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pool

In other news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of Pool stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total value of $3,460,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 62,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,651,642. The trade was a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pool has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $368.00.

Pool Stock Down 5.6 %

POOL stock opened at $343.56 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $12.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $343.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $355.86. 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 12 month low of $293.51 and a 12 month high of $420.98.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $961.04 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.55%.

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.