Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) Shares Down 4.7%

Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL)’s stock price fell 4.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $3.01 and last traded at $3.01. 47,892 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 99% from the average session volume of 4,236,484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LESL shares. Piper Sandler decreased 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. Mizuho lowered their target price on Leslie’s from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Leslie’s from $6.40 to $5.15 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Leslie’s from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $5.25 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Leslie’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.96.

Leslie’s Stock Down 9.2 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.19. The company has a market capitalization of $530.21 million, a PE ratio of 36.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.17.

Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $569.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Leslie’s’s revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Leslie’s, Inc. will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 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 valued at $29,375,000 after buying an additional 500,292 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Leslie’s by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,116,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,097,000 after purchasing an additional 492,416 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Leslie’s in the first quarter valued at about $100,000. Private Management Group Inc. grew its stake in Leslie’s by 93.8% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC increased its position in Leslie’s by 46.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 36,601,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,360,000 after purchasing an additional 11,618,490 shares during the last quarter.

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.