Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) Short Interest Update

Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of 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. Based on an average daily volume of 1,680,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.5 days. Currently, 5.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hayward news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 42,857 shares of Hayward stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.29, for a total value of $612,426.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 522,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,470,797.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hayward

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hayward by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,703,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,970,000 after buying an additional 1,166,717 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hayward by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 3,253 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hayward by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 19,095 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in shares of Hayward by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 52,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $799,000 after buying an additional 10,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hayward in the 1st quarter valued at about $181,000.

Hayward Price Performance

HAYW stock traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $16.26. 3,244,201 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,467,414. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 40.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.21. Hayward has a 52 week low of $9.80 and a 52 week high of $16.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $14.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.04.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $227.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $222.88 million. Hayward had a return on equity of 9.66% and a net margin of 9.06%. Hayward’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.08 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Hayward will post 0.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hayward Company Profile

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.