2.39% Dividend Yield, 15 Years of Dividend Hikes – The World's Largest Swimming Pool Distributor
This distributor has turned backyard pools into a $5 billion revenue machine by stocking everything from chemicals to heaters across 455 locations, riding waves of new construction and maintenance demand. It’s seasonal and cyclical, but recurring sales from upkeep products provide ballast, letting it expand digitally and geographically while buying back shares and hiking dividends. That blend of scale, efficiency, and shareholder focus has compounded returns even as pool booms cool off.
Pool (POOL)
Financial Score: 99 / 99
Quick Tip
To keep your portfolio strong, stay on top of the financials for each company you hold. Solid companies mean better returns, so be sure to check in on their quarterly and annual numbers.Interesting stocks usually score 80+ on the Financial Scale, with top players hitting 90+. If that score dips below 80, it might be a good time to consider cutting ties before things take a turn.Pool Corporation (POOL) is the world’s largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool equipment, parts, and supplies, serving over 125,000 customers through 455 sales centers in North America, Europe, and Australia. Headquartered in Covington, Louisiana, it offers more than 200,000 products, including maintenance chemicals, pumps, filters, and building materials, with a focus on professional installers and service pros. Founded in 1993 from a handful of regional distributors, it has grown via acquisitions into a dominant player with stable recurring revenue.
Payout powerhouse: explosive growth, room to run
Pool pays $5.00 per share annually, delivering a 2.39% yield and a 46.00% payout ratio—plenty of dry powder for more hikes. The 15 consecutive years of dividend growth and +116.00% dividend growth over the last five years show the board’s aggressive on rewarding owners, more than doubling the payout amid EPS expansion. It stays sustainable because maintenance products (steady 70%+ of sales) generate reliable cash flow, even in down cycles, while share repurchases ($341 million in 2025) boost per‑share yields. This is a dividend that grows faster than most, backed by a defensible niche.
Q4 2025: sales flat, margins up 70 bps
For Q4 2025, reported February 19, 2026, Pool Corporation reported net sales of $982.2 million, down 1% year over year, with net income of $31.59 million and diluted EPS of $0.85 (down from $0.98). Operating income was $52 million (down from $61 million), but gross margin improved 70 basis points to 30.1%. Full‑year 2025 net sales were $5.289 billion (flat), net income $406.4 million, and diluted EPS $10.89 (down from $11.37).
Business expansion: digital sales hit 15%, building products surge
Digital sales reached a record 15% of total 2025 revenue, up from prior years, as platforms streamlined ordering for pros amid softer new pool demand. Building products grew in the second half, offsetting declines, while 2026 guidance projects low single‑digit sales growth and EPS of $10.85–$11.15. Inventory ended at $1.1 billion (up 13%), positioning for recovery, and operating cash flow was $366 million (strong % of income).
Fun Fact – Invented the sales center model for pools
Pool pioneered the “sales center” concept in the 1990s, centralizing inventory and logistics to serve installers efficiently across regions, revolutionizing fragmented pool distribution.
Final Take – An elite dividend grower riding housing cycles
Pool’s dividend story shines with a 2.39% yield, $5.00 annual payout, 46% payout ratio, 15 straight years of hikes, and explosive +116% five-year growth—numbers that scream commitment to owners even as pool sales flatten. Forget the Q4 2025 softness; the real edge is recurring maintenance revenue holding steady at 70%+ of sales, digital channels now 15% of the mix, and a lean inventory setup primed for a housing rebound. With $366 million in operating cash flow fueling $341 million in buybacks, the business is built to compound through seasons, and 2026’s low-single-digit sales growth plus $10.85–$11.15 EPS guidance signals steady acceleration. Financial Score: 99. That’s bulletproof elite—top of the heap where risks like weather or slowdowns barely dent the moat of distribution scale and pro‑customer loyalty; snag it for long‑term income with upside as backyards boom again.
Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. ― Warren Buffett.
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