Prudential Financial Inc. Buys 1,115,089 Shares of Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW)

Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) by 779.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,258,236 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,115,089 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Hayward were worth $20,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MSD Capital L P acquired a new position in shares of Hayward in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $418,901,000. BBR Partners LLC acquired a new position in Hayward in the fourth quarter valued at $67,399,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hayward by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,305,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,174,000 after acquiring an additional 3,589,352 shares in the last quarter. Michael & Susan Dell Foundation bought a new position in shares of Hayward in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,646,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hayward by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,109,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,282 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Hayward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.50 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Hayward from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Hayward in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.52, for a total value of $726,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 522,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,591,041.48. This trade represents a 8.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.25% of the company’s stock.

Hayward Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Hayward stock opened at $14.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.16. Hayward Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.96 and a 52 week high of $16.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $14.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $327.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $302.76 million. Hayward had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 9.93%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hayward Holdings, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.