Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM) saw a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,700,000 shares, a growth of 21.4% from the October 15th total of 1,400,000 shares. Currently, 4.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 571,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott Michael Rajeski sold 25,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.54, for a total transaction of $169,065.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 490,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,210,021.66. This represents a 5.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Sanjeev Bahl sold 11,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.90, for a total transaction of $69,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 262,811 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,584.90. The trade was a 4.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,817 shares of company stock valued at $304,182. 8.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Latham Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new stake in Latham Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Latham Group by 69.2% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 10,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 4,484 shares during the period. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Latham Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Latham Group by 75.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 3,123 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Latham Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Latham Group Price Performance

Latham Group stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $5.72. The company had a trading volume of 708,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 442,003. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $660.80 million, a PE ratio of 63.50 and a beta of 1.88. Latham Group has a 1-year low of $2.11 and a 1-year high of $7.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SWIM. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Latham Group from $3.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Latham Group from $6.80 to $7.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Latham Group from $5.50 to $7.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Latham Group from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Latham Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.62.

Latham Group Company Profile

Latham Group, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets in-ground residential swimming pools in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. It offers a portfolio of pools and related products, including in-ground swimming pools that include fiber glass and packaged pools; and pool covers and liners under the Latham, Narellan, CoverStar, Radiant, and GLI brand names.