StockNews.com Upgrades Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Helen of Troy from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th.

Helen of Troy Stock Performance

HELE opened at $55.59 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.83. Helen of Troy has a 52-week low of $48.05 and a 52-week high of $127.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.91.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $530.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $532.91 million. Helen of Troy had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 6.05%. The firm’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 posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Helen of Troy will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HELE. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC now owns 22,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Helen of Troy by 148.7% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 2,836 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Helen of Troy by 604.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 72,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,330,000 after buying an additional 62,087 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Helen of Troy by 446.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 646,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,695,000 after buying an additional 528,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Helen of Troy by 87.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 4,774 shares during the period.

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.