Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys New Shares in Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 171,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.09% of Leslie’s at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Leslie’s by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,116,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,097,000 after purchasing an additional 492,416 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Leslie’s by 2.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,320,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,581,000 after buying an additional 156,938 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Leslie’s by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,519,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,375,000 after acquiring an additional 500,292 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Leslie’s by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,532,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,610,000 after acquiring an additional 146,215 shares during the period. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Leslie’s by 93.8% during the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,516,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218,047 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on LESL. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Leslie’s from $6.40 to $5.15 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on shares of Leslie’s in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Leslie’s from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Leslie’s from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Leslie’s from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.96.

Leslie’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LESL opened at $2.90 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $535.75 million, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.38. Leslie’s, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2.42 and a 1 year high of $8.21.

Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. Leslie’s had a negative return on equity of 6.11% and a net margin of 0.22%. The company had revenue of $569.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $569.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. Leslie’s’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Leslie’s, Inc. will post 0.04 EPS for the current fiscal 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.