Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) Trading Up 5.6%

Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) shot up 5.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $3.02 and last traded at $3.02. 1,137,999 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 4,203,674 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LESL has been the subject of several research reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of Leslie’s in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Leslie’s from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $5.25 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Leslie’s from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Leslie’s from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on Leslie’s from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.96.

Leslie’s Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $2.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.16. The company has a market cap of $513.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leslie’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Leslie’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Leslie’s by 32,510.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 6,502 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC acquired a new stake in Leslie’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Leslie’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC lifted its stake in Leslie’s by 94.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 20,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 10,089 shares in the last quarter.

About Leslie’s

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.