Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) Short Interest Update

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,240,000 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the August 31st total of 2,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 729,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 9.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 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 valued at $177,464,000 after buying an additional 36,095 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Helen of Troy by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,761,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,750,000 after purchasing an additional 114,215 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Helen of Troy by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,153,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,970,000 after acquiring an additional 102,767 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Helen of Troy by 1.5% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 920,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,032,000 after purchasing an additional 13,206 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Helen of Troy by 2.7% during 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 in the last quarter.

Helen of Troy Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Helen of Troy stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Monday, reaching $61.85. 465,837 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 426,564. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.85. Helen of Troy has a 1 year low of $48.05 and a 1 year high of $127.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $55.52 and its 200 day moving average is $82.95.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 9th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.60). Helen of Troy had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 7.82%. The business had revenue of $416.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Helen of Troy will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helen of Troy declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 39.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.