Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $79.00 to $69.00. The stock had previously closed at $59.29, but opened at $56.88. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Helen of Troy shares last traded at $55.19, with a volume of 222,359 shares.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on HELE. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of Helen of Troy in a report on Monday, October 7th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Helen of Troy from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th.

Institutional Trading of Helen of Troy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy by 96.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position 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 worth $48,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC bought a new position in Helen of Troy during the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Helen of Troy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Helen of Troy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $315,000.

Helen of Troy Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 9.86, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.00.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.07. Helen of Troy had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The company had revenue of $530.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $532.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. Helen of Troy’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

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.