MQS Management LLC Buys New Shares in Hayward Holdings, Inc. $HAYW

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 18,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HAYW. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI lifted its stake in shares of Hayward by 63.0% in the first quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 6,709,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,402,000 after buying an additional 2,592,926 shares during the period. Greenhouse Funds LLLP lifted its stake in shares of Hayward by 43.4% in the first quarter. Greenhouse Funds LLLP now owns 4,589,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,880,000 after buying an additional 1,389,434 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hayward by 36.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,633,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,094,000 after buying an additional 962,402 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hayward by 34,359.7% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 862,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,011,000 after buying an additional 860,367 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Hayward in the first quarter worth about $11,821,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HAYW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Hayward from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Hayward from $17.50 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Hayward in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hayward

In related news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 60,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.16, for a total transaction of $918,256.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,540 shares in the company, valued at $9,452,866.40. This trade represents a 8.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Eifion Jones sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 287,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,739,311.50. The trade was a 6.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 156,142 shares of company stock worth $2,405,676. Company insiders own 5.06% of the company’s stock.

Hayward Price Performance

HAYW opened at $15.46 on Tuesday. Hayward Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $11.10 and a one year high of $16.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.06. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.11.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.02. Hayward had a net margin of 12.04% and a return on equity of 11.07%. The business had revenue of $299.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $291.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. Hayward’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Hayward has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hayward Holdings, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.