River Global Investors LLP Reduces Stock Position in Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW)

River Global Investors LLP decreased its stake in shares of Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 93,031 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,226 shares during the quarter. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Hayward were worth $1,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Hayward by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 19,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Hayward by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 47,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 2,510 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Hayward in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Hayward by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 30,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 3,128 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Hayward by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 54,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,000 after buying an additional 4,106 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on HAYW shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Hayward from $13.50 to $14.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. TheStreet upgraded Hayward from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Hayward from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Hayward from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 42,857 shares of Hayward stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total value of $571,712.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 522,799 shares in the company, valued at $6,974,138.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hayward Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE HAYW traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $14.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,468,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,271,021. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.02. Hayward Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.80 and a fifty-two week high of $16.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a current ratio of 3.37. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.25 and a beta of 1.25.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.02. Hayward had a net margin of 8.25% and a return on equity of 9.46%. The company had revenue of $278.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $271.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hayward Holdings, Inc. will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal 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.