Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) Trading 7% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) traded up 7% during trading 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 mid-day 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 restated a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of Helen of Troy in a research report on Monday, October 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Helen of Troy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Helen of Troy by 153.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 576 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Helen of Troy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $263,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Helen of Troy by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,109,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Helen of Troy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $815,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Helen of Troy by 374.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter.

Helen of Troy Stock 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 has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.18.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $474.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.85 million. Helen of Troy had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 9.31%. Helen of Troy’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 39.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.