Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 14,366 Shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its holdings in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 210,944 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 14,366 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.55% of Pool worth $79,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Pool in the fourth quarter worth $187,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Pool by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 855 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of Pool by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 4,816 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pool during the 4th quarter worth about $218,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pool by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

POOL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Pool from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $305.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Pool from $356.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Pool from $425.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $350.00.

Pool Trading Down 2.0 %

Pool stock traded down $7.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $363.91. 341,618 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 354,936. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.01. Pool Co. has a 12 month low of $293.51 and a 12 month high of $422.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $356.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $357.46.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The specialty retailer reported $4.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.90 by $0.09. Pool had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 32.85%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.89 earnings per share. Pool’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 10.99 EPS for the current year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.56%.

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.