The Goldman Sachs Group Has Lowered Expectations for Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) Stock Price

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) had its target price lowered by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 22.54% from the company’s previous close.

HAYW has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings cut Hayward from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Hayward in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Hayward in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Hayward in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.62.

Hayward Stock Performance

Hayward stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 909,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,541,142. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Hayward has a twelve month low of $11.28 and a twelve month high of $17.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.39. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.18.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. Hayward had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 11.61%. The company had revenue of $318.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $303.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Hayward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.840-0.870 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Hayward will post 0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hayward

In related news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.85, for a total value of $692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 701,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,712,090.90. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Susan Canning sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.84, for a total value of $44,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 167,911 shares in the company, valued at $2,155,977.24. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 153,500 shares of company stock worth $2,122,940 over the last three months. 4.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Hayward in the second quarter worth approximately $8,358,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Hayward during the second quarter worth $4,693,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Hayward in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,761,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Hayward during the 2nd quarter worth $422,455,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Hayward in the 2nd quarter worth $33,306,000.

Hayward Company Profile

Hayward Holdings, Inc designs, manufactures and markets equipment and technologies used in residential and commercial swimming pools and spas. Its products are intended to support water circulation, filtration, heating, cleaning, sanitation and overall pool management.

The company’s product portfolio includes pumps, filters, heaters, heat pumps, salt-chlorination systems, automatic cleaners, lighting, valves, controls and connected pool-management technologies. Hayward sells products under the Hayward brand and through related product lines, serving pool builders, distributors, service professionals and homeowners.

Hayward serves customers in North America and international markets.