Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Holdings in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL)

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Pool Corporation (NASDAQ:POOL) by 6.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,583 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Pool were worth $504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of POOL. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Pool by 2,300.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in Pool by 471.4% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 80 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in Pool in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Pool in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Pool in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Pool Trading Down 1.7%

Pool stock opened at $285.50 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $302.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $328.13. The company has a market cap of $10.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.12. Pool Corporation has a 52-week low of $282.22 and a 52-week high of $395.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The specialty retailer reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Pool had a net margin of 7.77% and a return on equity of 30.11%. The company’s revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Pool Corporation will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Pool declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Pool Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This is an increase from Pool’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Pool’s payout ratio is 46.90%.

Insider Activity at Pool

In related news, SVP Jennifer M. Neil sold 1,223 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

POOL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Pool from $370.00 to $322.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Stephens decreased their target price on Pool from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 target price on Pool in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $300.00 target price on Pool in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pool currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $336.22.

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.