Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Raises Position in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL - Free Report) by 23.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216,612 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 41,777 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.57% of Pool worth $73,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waterloo Capital L.P. increased its stake in Pool by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 635 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Pool by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Pool by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Pool by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,578 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $5,993,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Pool by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company's stock.

Pool Stock Performance

POOL stock traded down $0.26 during trading on Monday, reaching $291.33. The company had a trading volume of 515,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 444,271. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $323.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $344.42. The company has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.13. 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 twelve month low of $284.27 and a twelve month high of $395.60.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The specialty retailer reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.10). Pool had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 31.11%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pool Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Pool's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

POOL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Pool from $360.00 to $315.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Pool from $325.00 to $310.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $322.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Pool in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $344.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $341.22.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of Pool stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,045,105. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of Pool 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,651,642. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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.