Marshall Wace LLP Purchases 47,290 Shares of Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) by 1,178.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,302 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,290 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.22% of Helen of Troy worth $4,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HELE. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Helen of Troy in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy by 374.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Helen of Troy in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy by 153.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Helen of Troy in the first quarter worth approximately $201,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HELE. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Helen of Troy from $137.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Helen of Troy from $100.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Helen of Troy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of Helen of Troy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $139.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th.

Helen of Troy Price Performance

NASDAQ HELE opened at $61.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.87. The business’s fifty day moving average is $55.61 and its 200 day moving average is $82.56. The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.85. Helen of Troy Limited has a fifty-two week low of $48.05 and a fifty-two week high of $127.83.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 9th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.60). Helen of Troy had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of $416.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Helen of Troy declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 39.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.