Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 1,886 Shares of Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) by 10.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,685 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Hayward were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Hayward by 767.8% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 89,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 79,050 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hayward during the fourth quarter worth about $538,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $878,000 after purchasing an additional 19,983 shares in the last quarter. MSD Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Hayward by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. MSD Partners L.P. now owns 1,346,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,588,000 after purchasing an additional 41,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Hayward by 494.2% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 168,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,572,000 after buying an additional 139,896 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on HAYW shares. Wolfe Research lowered Hayward from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Hayward from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.13.

Insider Transactions at Hayward

In other news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.06, for a total value of $703,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 623,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,766,972.40. This trade represents a 7.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.06% of the company’s stock.

Hayward Stock Down 1.1%

HAYW stock opened at $14.13 on Thursday. Hayward Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.10 and a fifty-two week high of $16.87. The business’s 50-day moving average is $13.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.62. The company has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Hayward Company 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.