Federated Hermes Inc. Reduces Position in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its holdings in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,790 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,076 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Helen of Troy were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HELE. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Helen of Troy by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy by 1.8% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,299,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Helen of Troy by 374.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Helen of Troy by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Helen of Troy in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Helen of Troy Price Performance

NASDAQ HELE opened at $59.90 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $55.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.87. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $416.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.85 million. Helen of Troy had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company’s revenue was down 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helen of Troy announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.