Virtu Financial LLC Buys 32,611 Shares of Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL)

Virtu Financial LLC boosted its stake in Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) by 205.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,496 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,611 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Leslie’s were worth $153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Leslie’s by 46.5% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 36,601,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,360,000 after acquiring an additional 11,618,490 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in Leslie’s by 121.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 5,569,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,599,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052,539 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Leslie’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,470,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in shares of Leslie’s by 1,300.5% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,187,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Leslie’s by 477.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,110,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,653,000 after purchasing an additional 918,084 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Leslie’s in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Leslie’s from $4.00 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of Leslie’s from $4.00 to $3.75 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.61.

Leslie’s Price Performance

NASDAQ:LESL opened at $2.15 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $397.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.92 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $2.71 and a 200 day moving average of $3.17. Leslie’s, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2.13 and a 1-year high of $8.21.

Leslie’s (NASDAQ:LESL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.09). Leslie’s had a negative return on equity of 6.11% and a negative net margin of 1.76%. The business had revenue of $397.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $405.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Leslie’s, Inc. will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

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.