Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) Short Interest Down 5.7% in December

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,140,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the December 15th total of 2,270,000 shares. Currently, 9.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 490,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Helen of Troy Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of HELE opened at $64.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $65.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.46. Helen of Troy has a one year low of $48.05 and a one year high of $127.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.90.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $530.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $532.91 million. Helen of Troy had a net margin of 6.05% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Helen of Troy will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on HELE shares. DA Davidson upped their target price on Helen of Troy from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Helen of Troy from $79.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of Helen of Troy in a research note on Monday, October 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HELE. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy by 30.3% in the third 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Helen of Troy by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Helen of Troy by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,464,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 573 shares during the period. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank boosted its position in shares of Helen of Troy by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 10,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the last quarter.

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.