Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) Short Interest Update

Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 24,760,000 shares, a drop of 13.0% from the July 15th total of 28,450,000 shares. Currently, 14.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 5,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leslie’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LESL. Blueshift Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Leslie’s by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 16,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Leslie’s by 7.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 35,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in Leslie’s by 1.7% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 160,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance boosted its stake in Leslie’s by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 20,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 3,023 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Leslie’s by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 82,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LESL. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Leslie’s from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Leslie’s from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Leslie’s from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $5.25 to $2.50 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Leslie’s from $6.40 to $5.15 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Leslie’s from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Leslie’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.96.

Leslie’s Price Performance

LESL traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $3.25. The company had a trading volume of 4,344,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,108,930. The company has a market cap of $600.41 million, a PE ratio of 40.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.16. Leslie’s has a 1-year low of $2.42 and a 1-year high of $8.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3.61 and a 200-day moving average of $5.20.

Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $569.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $569.99 million. Leslie’s had a net margin of 1.06% and a negative return on equity of 12.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Leslie’s will post 0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

About Leslie’s

Leslie's, Inc operates as a direct-to-consumer pool and spa care brand in the United States. The company markets and sells pool and spa supplies and related products and services. It also offers various pool and spa maintenance items, such as chemicals, equipment and parts, cleaning and maintenance equipment, safety, recreational, and fitness related products.