Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) Stock Price Down 4.7%

Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL)’s share price fell 4.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $3.01 and last traded at $3.01. 47,892 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 99% from the average session volume of 4,236,484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LESL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Leslie’s from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $5.25 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Leslie’s from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Leslie’s from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Leslie’s from $6.40 to $5.15 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Leslie’s from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.96.

Leslie’s Stock Down 9.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $530.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.19.

Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $569.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $569.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. Leslie’s’s revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Leslie’s, Inc. will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Leslie’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LESL. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leslie’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Leslie’s by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 16,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Leslie’s by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 8,980 shares during the period. Clearfield Capital Management LP bought a new position in Leslie’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,928,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Leslie’s in the fourth quarter worth about $259,000.

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.