Hilton Capital Management LLC Acquires 180 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Hilton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,288 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Pool were worth $1,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of POOL. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Pool by 3.5% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 204,730 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $77,142,000 after purchasing an additional 6,987 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Pool by 816.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 40,860 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,601,000 after acquiring an additional 36,403 shares in the last quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP bought a new stake in Pool during the 4th quarter worth approximately $653,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Pool by 46.6% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 15,576 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,869,000 after purchasing an additional 4,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Pool by 1.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 260,333 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $98,093,000 after purchasing an additional 3,268 shares during the period. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on POOL. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on 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 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $368.00.

Pool Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ POOL opened at $320.75 on Friday. Pool Co. has a 1-year low of $293.51 and a 1-year high of $420.98. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $343.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $355.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.44, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Pool Announces Dividend

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