Dearborn Partners LLC Sells 1,857 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Dearborn Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 61,729 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,857 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Pool were worth $21,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of POOL. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in Pool by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,103 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC raised its holdings in Pool by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 853 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Pool by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Pool by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Pool by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 7,250 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Pool Price Performance

Pool stock opened at $364.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 2.05. Pool Co. has a 52 week low of $293.51 and a 52 week high of $420.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $343.08 and a 200-day moving average of $355.74.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last posted 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 company had revenue of $987.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $961.04 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Pool’s payout ratio is presently 42.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on POOL. StockNews.com cut Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pool currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $368.00.

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.