Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) Reaches New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $6.40 to $5.15. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Leslie’s traded as low as $2.90 and last traded at $2.92, with a volume of 1900043 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $4.08.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on LESL. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Leslie’s from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on Leslie’s from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Leslie’s from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Leslie’s from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $5.25 to $2.50 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Leslie’s from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.74.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leslie’s

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Leslie’s by 32,510.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 6,502 shares during the period. RPO LLC purchased a new position in shares of Leslie’s in the fourth quarter worth about $84,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Leslie’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Leslie’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $100,000. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC raised its position in Leslie’s by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 16,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter.

Leslie’s Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $535.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.50, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.16.

Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18). The company had revenue of $188.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.69 million. Leslie’s had a net margin of 1.06% and a negative return on equity of 12.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Leslie’s, Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Leslie’s Company Profile

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.