Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) Hits New 1-Year Low After Insider Selling

Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $11.70 and last traded at $11.70, with a volume of 872369 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.43.

Specifically, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total transaction of $626,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 623,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,806,720.80. This trade represents a 7.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HAYW. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Hayward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Hayward in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Hayward from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Hayward from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.13.

Hayward Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.03. Hayward had a return on equity of 9.93% and a net margin of 9.47%. The firm had revenue of $327.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $302.76 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hayward Holdings, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Hayward

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hayward by 24.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,265,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,417,000 after buying an additional 251,788 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hayward in the 3rd quarter valued at $706,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Hayward in the 3rd quarter valued at $217,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Hayward in the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Hayward by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,355,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,810,000 after purchasing an additional 341,424 shares in 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.