Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) Shares Purchased by Earnest Partners LLC

Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 666,256 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,741 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Helen of Troy were worth $61,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Helen of Troy by 1,178.7% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 51,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,758,000 after acquiring an additional 47,290 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Helen of Troy by 7.9% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Helen of Troy by 64.5% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 85,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,904,000 after purchasing an additional 33,428 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Helen of Troy during the second quarter valued at $497,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy by 22.8% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the period.

Helen of Troy Stock Up 3.4 %

HELE stock opened at $59.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.26. Helen of Troy Limited has a fifty-two week low of $48.05 and a fifty-two week high of $127.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 9th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.60). The firm had revenue of $416.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.85 million. Helen of Troy had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 7.82%. Helen of Troy’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Helen of Troy announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 39.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Helen of Troy 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.