Latham Group (NASDAQ:SWIM) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Latham Group (NASDAQ:SWIM) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

SWIM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating on shares of Latham Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Latham Group from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Latham Group in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Latham Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Latham Group from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $7.50.

Latham Group Price Performance

Shares of SWIM opened at $7.48 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $880.02 million, a PE ratio of 149.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.96. Latham Group has a 1-year low of $4.64 and a 1-year high of $8.97.

Latham Group (NASDAQ:SWIM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.05). Latham Group had a net margin of 0.92% and a return on equity of 1.32%. The business had revenue of $197.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.39 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Latham Group will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James E. Cline purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.84 per share, with a total value of $242,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $484,000. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Oliver C. Gloe purchased 15,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.90 per share, with a total value of $73,745.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 540,758 shares in the company, valued at $2,649,714.20. This represents a 2.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Latham Group by 216.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,749,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,858,000 after purchasing an additional 4,616,367 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Latham Group by 206.5% during the third quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 4,620,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112,708 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Latham Group during the second quarter valued at $23,532,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Latham Group by 16.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,370,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,096,000 after purchasing an additional 470,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Latham Group by 36.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,257,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,788,000 after purchasing an additional 873,903 shares during the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Latham Group Company Profile

Latham Group, Inc designs, manufactures and supplies a broad range of aquatic products and services for residential and commercial applications. Offerings include fiberglass and vinyl-liner pool shells, commercial water park structures, water slides, surf simulators, pumps, filters, heaters and sanitation systems. The company also provides parts, equipment and technical support for pool installation, maintenance and repair.

Operating across three core segments—commercial, residential and aftermarket—Latham delivers turnkey aquatic facilities and attractions for municipal, hospitality and resort clients, offers packaged pool kits and equipment packages to builders and dealers, and supplies replacement parts, service contracts and technical assistance to support ongoing pool operations.

Headquartered in the United States, Latham Group maintains manufacturing and distribution centers throughout North America and Europe.