Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) to Issue $1.20 Quarterly Dividend

Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of 1.20 per share by the specialty retailer on Wednesday, March 26th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%.

Pool has increased its dividend by an average of 16.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Pool has a dividend payout ratio of 38.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Pool to earn $12.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.4%.

Pool Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of POOL traded down $0.98 on Wednesday, reaching $347.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 431,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,610. Pool has a twelve month low of $293.51 and a twelve month high of $422.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.83, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $342.92 and a 200-day moving average of $355.63.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $987.48 million during 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%. Equities analysts predict that Pool will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,651,642. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on POOL. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 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 upgraded Pool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $368.00.

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.