Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in 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. Currently, 5.9% of the shares of the company 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

HAYW has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Hayward from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Hayward from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp raised their price target on Hayward from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Hayward from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 42,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.29, for a total value of $612,426.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 522,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,470,797.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hayward

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hayward during the second quarter worth $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hayward by 2,710.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 2,141 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Hayward during the 2nd quarter worth $64,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Hayward by 217.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 5,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Hayward in the second quarter valued at about $171,000.

Hayward Price Performance

Shares of HAYW stock traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $16.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,244,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,467,414. Hayward has a fifty-two week low of $9.80 and a fifty-two week high of $16.85. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.64, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.21.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hayward will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current 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.