Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on HAYW. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Hayward from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 9th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Hayward in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Hayward from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Hayward in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Hayward in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.62.

Hayward Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of HAYW stock opened at $12.09 on Monday. Hayward has a 1 year low of $11.24 and a 1 year high of $17.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 2.49. The company has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.18.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. Hayward had a return on equity of 11.61% and a net margin of 13.83%. The firm had revenue of $318.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $303.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. Hayward’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Hayward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.840-0.870 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hayward will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Susan M. Canning sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.70, for a total transaction of $40,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 164,411 shares in the company, valued at $1,923,608.70. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.85, for a total transaction of $692,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 701,234 shares in the company, valued at $9,712,090.90. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 157,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,163,890. Company insiders own 4.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HAYW. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Hayward by 178.1% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 2,624 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Hayward by 17.2% during the third quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 11,300 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Hayward by 11.1% during the third quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 19,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,983 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. bought a new stake in Hayward during the third quarter valued at about $38,607,000. Finally, Diversified Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hayward in the third quarter valued at about $2,024,000.

Hayward Company Profile

Hayward Holdings, Inc designs, manufactures and markets equipment and technologies used in residential and commercial swimming pools. Its product portfolio includes pumps, filters, heaters, heat pumps, automatic pool cleaners, lighting, sanitization systems, water features and pool-control and automation solutions.

The company sells products under the Hayward brand and serves pool owners, builders, retailers, distributors and service professionals. Its equipment is used in both new pool construction and the replacement and renovation market, with an emphasis on energy efficiency, water quality and connected pool-management technologies.

Hayward traces its roots to 1925 and has developed into a global pool-equipment supplier.