Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,946 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Pool were worth $6,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Pool by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,443,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,514,950,000 after buying an additional 21,870 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Pool by 22.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,260,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $474,886,000 after acquiring an additional 232,914 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Pool by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 964,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $362,196,000 after purchasing an additional 6,232 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Pool by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 419,919 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $143,167,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in Pool in the 3rd quarter valued at $152,249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Pool Price Performance

Pool stock opened at $318.35 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. The company has a market capitalization of $11.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $339.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $353.40. Pool Co. has a 1 year low of $293.51 and a 1 year high of $403.61.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $987.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $961.04 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.55%.

Insider Transactions at Pool

In other 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 stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on POOL shares. 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 cut their price objective on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $368.00.

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.