Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Position in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 131,305 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,471 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Helen of Troy worth $7,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in HELE. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Helen of Troy by 30.3% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 783 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Helen of Troy by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 484 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Helen of Troy by 73.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 10,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Helen of Troy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on HELE. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Helen of Troy from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Helen of Troy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Helen of Troy from $79.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Helen of Troy Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HELE opened at $55.03 on Friday. Helen of Troy Limited has a 52-week low of $48.05 and a 52-week high of $127.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 6.05% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The firm had revenue of $530.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $532.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. Helen of Troy’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.46 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.