Verition Fund Management LLC Acquires 209,770 Shares of Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW)

Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW - Free Report) by 746.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 237,881 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 209,770 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Hayward worth $3,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Hayward by 6.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 65,048 shares of the company's stock worth $996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,158 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Hayward by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 52,972 shares of the company's stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 13,091 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Hayward by 4.4% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 54,470 shares of the company's stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,289 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Hayward by 2.8% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 99,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 2,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hayward by 13.1% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,720 shares of the company's stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 5,651 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on HAYW. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Hayward from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Hayward from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Hayward from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Hayward from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hayward presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $16.80.

Hayward Stock Performance

NYSE HAYW traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $16.01. 1,524,278 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,539,572. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.16. Hayward Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.81 and a 1 year high of $16.87. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $15.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.37.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.01. Hayward had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 9.93%. The company had revenue of $227.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $222.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.08 EPS. Hayward's revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hayward Holdings, Inc. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Hayward

In other news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.96, for a total value of $1,596,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 522,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,343,872.04. This trade represents a 16.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Eifion Jones sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.11, for a total transaction of $1,208,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,170,927.33. This represents a 22.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.25% of the company's stock.

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.