Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 379 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,024 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Pool were worth $1,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of POOL. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Pool by 11.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 739 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its stake in shares of Pool by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 1,853 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Pool during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,129,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Pool by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,605 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $11,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in Pool by 77.6% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $368.00.

Pool Stock Performance

Shares of Pool stock opened at $327.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a P/E/G 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 $420.98. The company’s fifty day moving average is $343.24 and its 200 day moving average is $355.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 8.18%. The firm had revenue of $987.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $961.04 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pool 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 approximately $21,651,642. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Pool 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.