Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 102,446 Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Latham Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWIM) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 102,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $697,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Latham Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,079,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,234,000 after purchasing an additional 17,259 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Latham Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $80,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Latham Group by 69.2% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 10,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 4,484 shares during the period. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Latham Group during the second quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in Latham Group in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Latham Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SWIM opened at $6.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $796.62 million, a PE ratio of 76.56 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.98. Latham Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2.11 and a 12 month high of $7.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Latham Group news, CFO Oliver C. Gloe sold 10,216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.44, for a total value of $65,791.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,820,626.64. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Sanjeev Bahl sold 11,750 shares of Latham Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.90, for a total value of $69,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 262,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,550,584.90. This trade represents a 4.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 47,817 shares of company stock valued at $304,182. Company insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on SWIM. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Latham Group from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Latham Group from $5.50 to $7.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Latham Group from $3.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Latham Group from $6.80 to $7.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Latham Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.62.

About Latham Group

Latham Group, Inc designs, manufactures, and markets in-ground residential swimming pools in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. It offers a portfolio of pools and related products, including in-ground swimming pools that include fiber glass and packaged pools; and pool covers and liners under the Latham, Narellan, CoverStar, Radiant, and GLI brand names.