Hayward Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:HAYW)

Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 4,000 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 264% compared to the typical volume of 1,098 put options.

Hayward Price Performance

Shares of Hayward stock opened at $13.77 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $13.50 and a 200 day moving average of $14.27. Hayward has a 52 week low of $11.10 and a 52 week high of $16.87. The company has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 32.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.01. Hayward had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 9.93%. The business had revenue of $228.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hayward will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.06, for a total value of $703,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 623,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,766,972.40. This represents a 7.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 5.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hayward

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hayward by 385.5% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,433,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,942,000 after purchasing an additional 6,696,170 shares during the period. Michael & Susan Dell Foundation lifted its position in Hayward by 247.6% during the fourth quarter. Michael & Susan Dell Foundation now owns 8,984,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,373,000 after buying an additional 6,400,000 shares during the period. BBR Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hayward during the 4th quarter valued at $67,399,000. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI purchased a new stake in shares of Hayward in the 4th quarter worth about $62,949,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on HAYW. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Hayward from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research cut Hayward from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.13.

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.