Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Stake in Hayward Holdings, Inc. $HAYW

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) by 65.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,600 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,700 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Hayward were worth $684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of HAYW. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hayward by 50.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $991,000 after buying an additional 23,790 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Hayward in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $283,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Hayward by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Hayward by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 31,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 3,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Hayward in the first quarter worth $1,059,000.

Hayward Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:HAYW opened at $16.45 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.12. Hayward Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.10 and a 52-week high of $17.73. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $244.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.46 million. Hayward had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 11.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. Hayward has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts expect that Hayward Holdings, Inc. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.16, for a total value of $918,256.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,452,866.40. This trade represents a 8.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Eifion Jones sold 25,000 shares of Hayward stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.50, for a total value of $437,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 287,231 shares in the company, valued at $5,026,542.50. This trade represents a 8.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 146,142 shares of company stock worth $2,369,715 over the last quarter. Insiders own 5.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HAYW shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Hayward from $17.50 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hayward from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hayward in a report on Monday, November 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

About Hayward

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.