Barclays PLC Decreases Position in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)

Barclays PLC reduced its stake in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) by 30.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,913 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,102 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.19% of Helen of Troy worth $2,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HELE. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Helen of Troy in the 2nd quarter valued at $271,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Helen of Troy by 54.0% in the second quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 31,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,920,000 after acquiring an additional 11,038 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Helen of Troy during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its position in shares of Helen of Troy by 1.9% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,913,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,464,000 after purchasing an additional 36,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026 shares during the last quarter.

Helen of Troy Stock Performance

Shares of HELE stock opened at $61.58 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.88. Helen of Troy Limited has a 52-week low of $48.05 and a 52-week high of $127.83.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.16. Helen of Troy had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 7.35%. The business had revenue of $474.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $458.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

Helen of Troy declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 39.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HELE. DA Davidson raised their price target on Helen of Troy from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of Helen of Troy in a report on Monday, October 7th.

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.