William Blair Brokers Raise Earnings Estimates for Hayward

Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) – Investment analysts at William Blair boosted their Q4 2025 earnings per share estimates for Hayward in a research note issued on Thursday, April 10th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now anticipates that the company will earn $0.27 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.26. The consensus estimate for Hayward’s current full-year earnings is $0.60 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Hayward’s Q2 2026 earnings at $0.26 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $0.13 EPS.

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $327.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $302.76 million. Hayward had a return on equity of 9.93% and a net margin of 9.47%.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Hayward from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded Hayward from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Hayward from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Hayward in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.13.

Hayward Price Performance

HAYW stock opened at $12.12 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.86. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.14. Hayward has a 1 year low of $11.10 and a 1 year high of $16.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kevin Holleran sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total transaction of $626,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 623,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,806,720.80. The trade was a 7.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hayward

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 3,589,352 shares during the last quarter. Michael & Susan Dell Foundation increased its holdings in shares of Hayward by 247.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Hayward by 385.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 6,696,170 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hayward by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,109,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Hayward by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,873,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,520,000 after purchasing an additional 392,695 shares during the period.

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.