Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in 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 stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.5 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 42,857 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.29, for a total transaction of $612,426.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 522,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,470,797.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Hayward during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hayward by 2,710.1% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 2,141 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Hayward during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hayward during the second quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Hayward by 217.7% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 5,420 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hayward Price Performance

Shares of HAYW traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $16.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,396,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,467,080. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.70, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.21. Hayward has a 12 month low of $10.54 and a 12 month high of $16.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $14.81 and a 200 day moving average of $14.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. Hayward had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 9.93%. The company had revenue of $227.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $222.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. Hayward’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Hayward will post 0.59 EPS 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.