Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Consensus "Moderate Buy" from six analysts with an average 12‑month price target of $17.83, and several recent upgrades including Bank of America to buy and Zacks to strong‑buy.
• Hayward beat quarterly expectations with $0.29 EPS vs $0.28 estimate and $349.4M revenue (up 6.8% YoY), and set FY2026 guidance of $0.820–$0.860 EPS.
• Insider selling is notable—executives including the CEO and CFO sold shares recently, with 172,168 insider shares sold in the last three months, even as several institutions modestly increased stakes.

Shares of Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.8333.

HAYW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $19.50 target price (up from $19.00) on shares of Hayward in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Hayward from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hayward from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $15.00 price objective (down from $16.00) on shares of Hayward in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Hayward from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th.

Hayward Trading Up 1.4%

HAYW traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.31. 872,900 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,942,222. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm's fifty day moving average is $15.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.67. Hayward has a 1-year low of $11.10 and a 1-year high of $17.73.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Hayward had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 13.51%.The firm had revenue of $349.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $332.84 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. Hayward's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Hayward has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.820-0.860 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Hayward will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Eifion Jones sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.57, for a total transaction of $218,550.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 316,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,605,577. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 52,389 shares of Hayward stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.73, for a total value of $824,078.97. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 748,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,774,534.20. This represents a 6.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 172,168 shares of company stock valued at $2,721,189. 5.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hayward

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Hayward by 36.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 126,506 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,760,000 after acquiring an additional 33,614 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Hayward by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 486,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,767,000 after purchasing an additional 30,763 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Hayward by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 38,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Hayward by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 392,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,415,000 after purchasing an additional 16,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Hayward by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 478,484 shares of the company's stock worth $6,603,000 after purchasing an additional 24,033 shares during the last quarter.

About Hayward

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.

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