XTX Topco Ltd Purchases New Holdings in Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL)

XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Leslie’s by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,116,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,097,000 after acquiring an additional 492,416 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Leslie’s by 2.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,320,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,581,000 after purchasing an additional 156,938 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Leslie’s by 12.4% during the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,519,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,375,000 after purchasing an additional 500,292 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Leslie’s by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,532,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,610,000 after buying an additional 146,215 shares during the period. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Leslie’s by 93.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,516,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,545,000 after buying an additional 1,218,047 shares during the period.

Leslie’s Stock Down 12.0 %

NASDAQ LESL opened at $2.78 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $2.95 and its 200-day moving average is $4.16. The company has a market capitalization of $513.59 million, a PE ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.17. Leslie’s, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2.42 and a 12-month high of $8.21.

Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $569.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $569.99 million. Leslie’s had a negative return on equity of 6.11% and a net margin of 0.22%. Leslie’s’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Leslie’s, Inc. will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho reduced their target price on Leslie’s from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of Leslie’s in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Leslie’s from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Leslie’s from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $5.25 to $2.50 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Leslie’s from $6.40 to $5.15 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Leslie’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.96.

Leslie’s Profile

Leslie's, Inc operates as a direct-to-consumer pool and spa care brand in the United States. The company markets and sells pool and spa supplies and related products and services. It also offers various pool and spa maintenance items, such as chemicals, equipment and parts, cleaning and maintenance equipment, safety, recreational, and fitness related products.