Federated Hermes Inc. Invests $464,000 in Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL)

Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 110,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $464,000. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Leslie’s at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LESL. Blueshift Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Leslie’s by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 35,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 2,473 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in Leslie’s by 1.7% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 160,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 2,710 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in Leslie’s by 4.1% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 82,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Leslie’s by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 378,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,460,000 after acquiring an additional 5,728 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LESL shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Leslie’s from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Leslie’s from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Leslie’s from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $5.25 to $2.50 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Leslie’s from $6.40 to $5.15 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $4.00 price target on shares of Leslie’s in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Leslie’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.96.

Leslie’s Stock Performance

Shares of LESL opened at $2.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $535.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 1.17. Leslie’s, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2.42 and a 1 year high of $8.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.35.

Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $569.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect 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.