William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 2,010,740 Hayward Holdings, Inc. $HAYW

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,010,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,402,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Hayward by 10,452.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,777 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in Hayward in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Hayward by 149.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 2,814 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Hayward by 19.3% during the third quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hayward during the second quarter worth $151,000.

Hayward Price Performance

HAYW stock opened at $16.01 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.54, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.92. Hayward Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.10 and a 12-month high of $17.73.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $349.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $332.84 million. Hayward had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 13.51%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. Hayward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.820-0.860 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Hayward Holdings, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Hayward

In other Hayward news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 60,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.13, for a total transaction of $977,010.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,057,700.20. This represents a 8.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 165,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,655,570 over the last quarter. 5.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.50 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of Hayward in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Hayward from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Hayward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.50.

Hayward Profile

Hayward Holdings, Inc is a leading manufacturer and marketer of residential and commercial swimming pool equipment and related outdoor living products. The company designs, engineers and produces a comprehensive range of products that address water circulation, filtration, heating, sanitation, automation, lighting and cleaning needs for pools and spas. Hayward’s offerings include pumps, filters, heaters, salt and chemical sanitization systems, automation controls, lights, robotic cleaners and various accessories that serve both new pool construction and aftermarket renovation markets.

Hayward’s product portfolio is organized into several core categories.