Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) Shares Up 7% on Analyst Upgrade

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) traded up 7% on Monday after DA Davidson raised their price target on the stock from $71.00 to $78.00. DA Davidson currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Helen of Troy traded as high as $75.00 and last traded at $74.82. 39,056 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 443,681 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.92.

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Helen of Troy in a research report on Monday, October 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Helen of Troy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,235,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Helen of Troy by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 242,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,992,000 after acquiring an additional 118,814 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Helen of Troy by 3.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 894,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,336,000 after purchasing an additional 31,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in Helen of Troy by 17.0% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 226,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,032,000 after purchasing an additional 33,010 shares in the last quarter.

Helen of Troy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.85.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.16. Helen of Troy had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The business had revenue of $474.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.85 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Helen of Troy announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 39.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Helen of Troy Company Profile

Helen of Troy Limited provides various consumer products in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates in two segments: Home & Outdoor and Beauty & Wellness. The Home & Outdoor segment offers food storage containers, kitchen utensils for cooking and preparing salads, fruits, vegetables and meats, graters, slicers and choppers, baking essentials, kitchen organization, bath, cleaning, infant and toddler products, and coffee preparation tools and electronics; and insulated beverageware, including bottles, travel tumblers, drinkware, mugs, food and lunch containers, insulated totes, soft coolers, outdoor kitchenware, and accessories.