Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,260,000 shares, a decline of 9.6% from the October 15th total of 2,500,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 637,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 10.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of Helen of Troy in a research note on Monday, October 7th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Helen of Troy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helen of Troy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HELE. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Helen of Troy in the 1st quarter valued at $239,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Helen of Troy during the second quarter worth $289,000. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Helen of Troy by 2.7% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 666,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,789,000 after purchasing an additional 17,741 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Helen of Troy by 58.4% during the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 87,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,107,000 after purchasing an additional 32,321 shares in the last quarter.

Helen of Troy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of HELE traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $65.47. The company had a trading volume of 422,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 443,669. Helen of Troy has a 1-year low of $48.05 and a 1-year high of $127.83. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.85.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.85 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Helen of Troy will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Helen of Troy announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 39.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership 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.