Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) Short Interest Up 54.0% in August

Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 1,846,492 shares, an increase of 54.0% from the July 30th total of 1,199,205 shares. Approximately 19.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,634,539 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LESL. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $3.00 price objective (up from $2.00) on shares of Leslie’s in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Leslie’s from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Leslie’s from $4.00 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Leslie’s from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Leslie’s currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $2.85.

Leslie’s Stock Performance

LESL traded down $0.00 on Tuesday, hitting $0.51. 90,511 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 861,880. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.83. Leslie’s has a 12 month low of $0.50 and a 12 month high of $12.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.80 million, a PE ratio of -0.02 and a beta of 1.75.

Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $3.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.86 by ($0.90). The company had revenue of $458.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $503.22 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Leslie’s will post -2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leslie’s

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its position in shares of Leslie’s by 309.7% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 61,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 46,468 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Leslie’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Barclays PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leslie’s in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Scopia Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Leslie’s in the second quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Leslie’s by 38.5% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 117,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 32,500 shares during the period.

Leslie’s Company Profile

Leslie’s, Inc (NASDAQ: LESL) is the largest direct-to-consumer retailer of swimming pool supplies and related equipment in the United States. Through a network of more than 900 company-operated stores and a robust e-commerce platform, the company offers a comprehensive range of pool chemicals, cleaning tools, pumps, filters, heaters and pool accessories. In addition to product retailing, Leslie’s provides in-store and in-home water testing services, equipment installation, repair and ongoing maintenance programs designed to support both residential and commercial pool owners.

Founded in 1963 in North Miami Beach, Florida, Leslie’s has grown from a single neighborhood pool-supply shop into a national specialty retailer.