Stifel Nicolaus Increases Helios Technologies (NASDAQ:HLIO) Price Target to $39.00

Helios Technologies (NASDAQ:HLIO) had its price target upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $35.00 to $39.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Separately, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Helios Technologies from $65.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday.

Helios Technologies Stock Up 7.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ HLIO opened at $31.39 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Helios Technologies has a 12-month low of $24.76 and a 12-month high of $57.29. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.78 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $30.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.26.

Helios Technologies (NASDAQ:HLIO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.08. Helios Technologies had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 8.22%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. Helios Technologies’s revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Helios Technologies will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helios Technologies declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Helios Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Helios Technologies’s payout ratio is 32.43%.

Institutional Trading of Helios Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Helios Technologies by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,328,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,568,000 after purchasing an additional 13,059 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Helios Technologies by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,986,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,679,000 after buying an additional 266,127 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Helios Technologies by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,841,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,219,000 after buying an additional 21,683 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Helios Technologies by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,438,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,227,000 after acquiring an additional 79,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sara Bay Financial boosted its position in Helios Technologies by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 1,217,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,080,000 after acquiring an additional 247,088 shares during the period. 94.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Helios Technologies Company Profile

Helios Technologies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides engineered motion control and electronic control technology solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Hydraulics and Electronics. The Hydraulics segment offers cartridge valve technology products to control rates and direction of fluid flow, and to regulate and control pressures for industrial and mobile applications; hydraulic quick release coupling solutions for the agriculture, construction equipment, and industrial markets; motion control technology and fluid conveyance technology; cartridge valve technology; engineered solutions for machine users, manufacturers, or designers.