Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Buys 20,000 Shares of Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 300,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Hayward worth $4,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hayward by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 668,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,253,000 after acquiring an additional 44,978 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hayward by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 19,983 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hayward in the fourth quarter worth about $287,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hayward by 151.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 69,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,070,000 after buying an additional 42,195 shares during the period. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Hayward in the 4th quarter valued at about $665,000.

Hayward Stock Up 4.1%

HAYW stock opened at $14.76 on Tuesday. Hayward Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.10 and a fifty-two week high of $16.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $13.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $228.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.37 million. Hayward had a return on equity of 9.93% and a net margin of 9.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Hayward Holdings, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Hayward

In other Hayward news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 623,540 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 5.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HAYW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut Hayward from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Hayward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.50 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four equities 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 company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.