Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.16 EPS

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.16, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $474.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.85 million. Helen of Troy had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS.

Helen of Troy Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:HELE opened at $72.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.86. Helen of Troy has a 1-year low of $48.05 and a 1-year high of $127.83. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $56.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Helen of Troy declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 39.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HELE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of Helen of Troy in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Helen of Troy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Helen of Troy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Helen of Troy from $100.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th.

Institutional Trading of Helen of Troy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Helen of Troy during the third quarter valued at $315,000. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Helen of Troy by 75.5% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 2,861 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Helen of Troy by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 7,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Helen of Troy by 158.3% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 3,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of Helen of Troy by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 193,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,979,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the period.

About Helen of Troy

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.