Pool Co. (POOL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.20 on March 26th

Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. Investors 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 yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th.

Pool has raised its dividend 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% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Pool stock opened at $342.54 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $343.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $355.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.03. Pool has a 12-month low of $293.51 and a 12-month high of $422.73. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $961.04 million. Analysts predict that Pool will post 11.32 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on POOL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Pool from $370.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pool from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $368.00.

Insider Activity at Pool

In related news, Director De La Mesa Manuel J. Perez sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 62,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,651,642. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.