Rafferty Asset Management LLC Buys 107,480 Shares of Hayward Holdings, Inc. $HAYW

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) by 213.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 157,766 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 107,480 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Hayward were worth $2,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAYW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Hayward by 29.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,683,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,656,000 after purchasing an additional 2,627,348 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Hayward by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,827,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,913,000 after buying an additional 1,074,072 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Hayward by 31.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,026,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,771,000 after acquiring an additional 725,084 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Hayward by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,439,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,858,000 after acquiring an additional 686,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenhouse Funds LLLP boosted its holdings in Hayward by 14.5% during the second quarter. Greenhouse Funds LLLP now owns 5,253,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,503,000 after acquiring an additional 664,737 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research lowered Hayward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Hayward from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.50 price target (up from $19.00) on shares of Hayward in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.50.

Insider Activity at Hayward

In related news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 60,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.13, for a total value of $977,010.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,057,700.20. This trade represents a 8.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 217,739 shares of company stock valued at $3,479,649 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.06% of the company’s stock.

Hayward Stock Down 0.4%

HAYW stock opened at $15.51 on Thursday. Hayward Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.10 and a twelve month high of $17.73. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.91.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Hayward had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 13.51%.The firm had revenue of $349.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $332.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Hayward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.820-0.860 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hayward Holdings, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hayward Profile

Hayward Holdings, Inc is a leading manufacturer and marketer of residential and commercial swimming pool equipment and related outdoor living products. The company designs, engineers and produces a comprehensive range of products that address water circulation, filtration, heating, sanitation, automation, lighting and cleaning needs for pools and spas. Hayward’s offerings include pumps, filters, heaters, salt and chemical sanitization systems, automation controls, lights, robotic cleaners and various accessories that serve both new pool construction and aftermarket renovation markets.

Hayward’s product portfolio is organized into several core categories.