Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Invests $2.45 Million in Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 160,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,449,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Hayward as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in Hayward during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,949,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Hayward by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 730,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,171,000 after buying an additional 152,170 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Hayward by 112.0% during the fourth quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 197,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,025,000 after buying an additional 104,548 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in Hayward during the fourth quarter valued at about $337,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Hayward by 767.8% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 89,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 79,050 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,806,720.80. This trade represents a 7.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hayward Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE HAYW opened at $14.34 on Friday. Hayward Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.10 and a 12 month high of $16.87. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.61.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. Hayward had a return on equity of 9.93% and a net margin of 9.47%. The business had revenue of $228.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share. Hayward’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Hayward Holdings, Inc. will post 0.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HAYW. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Hayward from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research cut Hayward from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Hayward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.50 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.13.

Hayward 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.