Pool Co. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.20 (NASDAQ:POOL)

Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of 1.20 per share by the specialty retailer on Wednesday, March 26th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%.

Pool has raised its dividend payment by an average of 16.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Pool has a dividend payout ratio of 38.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Pool to earn $12.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.4%.

Pool Price Performance

NASDAQ:POOL traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $347.74. 431,676 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 393,610. The firm has a market cap of $13.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $342.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $355.63. Pool has a 52 week low of $293.51 and a 52 week high of $422.73.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $987.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $961.04 million. Pool had a return on equity of 31.11% and a net margin of 8.18%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Pool will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on POOL. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Pool from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $368.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of Pool stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.00, for a total value of $3,460,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,651,642. This trade represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Pool Company 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.