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

Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their buy rating on shares of Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $19.50 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $19.00.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Hayward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hayward in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.50.

Hayward Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of HAYW stock opened at $16.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.13. Hayward has a 1 year low of $11.10 and a 1 year high of $17.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $349.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $332.84 million. Hayward had a net margin of 13.51% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. Hayward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.820-0.860 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hayward will post 0.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Hayward

In related news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 60,571 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 623,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,057,700.20. The trade was a 8.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 165,350 shares of company stock worth $2,655,570. 5.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Hayward by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,518,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,357,000 after purchasing an additional 313,571 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Hayward by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Hayward by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 71,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 30,718 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its position in Hayward by 71.1% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 79,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 33,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Hayward during the fourth quarter worth about $288,000.

Hayward Company Profile

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.