Berkshire Hathaway Inc Invests $152.25 Million in Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Pool Co. (NASDAQ:POOL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 404,057 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $152,249,000. Pool comprises about 0.1% of Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Berkshire Hathaway Inc owned about 1.06% of Pool at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of POOL. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Pool during the 1st quarter worth about $393,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Pool by 301.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,058 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 5,301 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in Pool by 123.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in Pool by 11.0% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 6,054 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Pool by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 593 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Pool from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Pool from $380.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Pool from $330.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Loop Capital increased their target price on Pool from $345.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Pool from $377.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $369.11.

Pool Price Performance

Shares of POOL opened at $377.09 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $367.20 and a 200-day moving average of $352.33. Pool Co. has a twelve month low of $293.51 and a twelve month high of $422.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The specialty retailer reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Pool had a return on equity of 31.89% and a net margin of 8.42%. Pool’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pool Co. will post 10.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pool Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Pool’s dividend payout ratio is 41.31%.

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.