Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $2.93 Million Stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,584 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,828 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Pool were worth $2,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pool in the fourth quarter worth $247,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Pool by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 419,919 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $143,167,000 after acquiring an additional 3,575 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Pool during the fourth quarter valued at about $146,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Pool in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,869,000. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pool in the fourth quarter valued at about $272,000. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Pool

In other Pool news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at $21,651,642. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pool Price Performance

Shares of POOL stock opened at $342.54 on Friday. Pool Co. has a 12 month low of $293.51 and a 12 month high of $422.73. The company has a market capitalization of $13.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $343.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $355.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $961.04 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Pool Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Pool’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pool presently 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.