Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Boosts Stock Holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 34.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 531 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Pool were worth $181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in shares of Pool in the third quarter worth $152,249,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Pool in the 4th quarter worth about $116,833,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in 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. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 129,780 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Pool during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,750,000. 98.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Pool Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Pool stock opened at $318.35 on Tuesday. Pool Co. has a 1-year low of $293.51 and a 1-year high of $403.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $339.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $353.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Pool Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.