Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) saw a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,550,000 shares, a drop of 8.1% from the September 30th total of 13,650,000 shares. Currently, 5.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,680,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Hayward from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Hayward from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Hayward from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Hayward from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hayward has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hayward

In related news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 42,857 shares of Hayward stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.29, for a total transaction of $612,426.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 522,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,470,797.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hayward

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hayward by 2,710.1% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,141 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Hayward in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Hayward in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Hayward in the 2nd quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Hayward by 217.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 5,420 shares during the period.

Hayward Stock Performance

NYSE:HAYW traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,396,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,467,080. Hayward has a twelve month low of $10.54 and a twelve month high of $16.85. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.70, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $227.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $222.88 million. Hayward had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 9.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hayward will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current year.

About Hayward

Hayward Holdings, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets a portfolio of pool equipment and associated automation systems in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers pool equipment, including pumps, filters, robotics, suction and pressure cleaners, gas heaters and heat pumps, water features and landscape lighting, water sanitizers, salt chlorine generators, safety equipment, and in-floor automated cleaning systems, as well as LED illumination solutions.