Wolfe Research Downgrades Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) to Peer Perform

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wolfe Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

HAYW has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Hayward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.50 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Hayward in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Hayward from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.13.

Hayward Price Performance

Hayward stock opened at $12.21 on Thursday. Hayward has a 52-week low of $11.54 and a 52-week high of $16.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $14.30 and its 200 day moving average is $15.04. The company has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.07, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.16.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.03. Hayward had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 9.93%. The firm had revenue of $327.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $302.76 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hayward will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hayward news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $626,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 623,540 shares in the company, valued at $7,806,720.80. This represents a 7.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hayward

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hayward by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,305,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,174,000 after acquiring an additional 3,589,352 shares in the last quarter. Michael & Susan Dell Foundation raised its stake in Hayward by 247.6% in the 4th quarter. Michael & Susan Dell Foundation now owns 8,984,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,373,000 after acquiring an additional 6,400,000 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Hayward by 385.5% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,433,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,942,000 after purchasing an additional 6,696,170 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Hayward by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,109,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,416,000 after buying an additional 1,453,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Hayward by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,873,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,520,000 after purchasing an additional 392,695 shares during the last quarter.

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.