Hayward’s (HAYW) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Stifel Nicolaus

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $19.50 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $19.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 27.62% from the company’s current price.

HAYW has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hayward in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hayward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.75.

Hayward Stock Performance

Shares of HAYW traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $15.28. The stock had a trading volume of 157,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,743,074. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.92. Hayward has a fifty-two week low of $11.10 and a fifty-two week high of $17.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.18.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Hayward had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 11.24%. The business had revenue of $349.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Hayward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.820-0.860 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hayward will post 0.6 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hayward news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 60,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.13, for a total value of $977,010.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,540 shares in the company, valued at $10,057,700.20. This represents a 8.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 165,350 shares of company stock worth $2,655,570 over the last quarter. Insiders own 5.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HAYW. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Hayward by 10,452.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hayward by 80.2% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 916 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hayward by 82.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Hayward by 103.9% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Hayward during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000.

About Hayward

Hayward Holdings, Inc is a leading manufacturer and marketer of residential and commercial swimming pool equipment and related outdoor living products. The company designs, engineers and produces a comprehensive range of products that address water circulation, filtration, heating, sanitation, automation, lighting and cleaning needs for pools and spas. Hayward’s offerings include pumps, filters, heaters, salt and chemical sanitization systems, automation controls, lights, robotic cleaners and various accessories that serve both new pool construction and aftermarket renovation markets.

Hayward’s product portfolio is organized into several core categories.