MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 12,833 Shares of Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) by 49.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,020 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,833 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Helen of Troy worth $805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HELE. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Helen of Troy by 30,278.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,069,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,176,000 after buying an additional 1,066,418 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Helen of Troy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,962,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Helen of Troy in the second quarter worth about $29,749,000. M&G PLC purchased a new stake in Helen of Troy during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,702,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 valued at $106,970,000 after purchasing an additional 102,767 shares during the last quarter.

Helen of Troy Price Performance

Shares of HELE stock opened at $72.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $66.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.51. Helen of Troy Limited has a 52-week low of $48.05 and a 52-week high of $127.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.88.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last released 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. The business had revenue of $474.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.85 million. Helen of Troy had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 7.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Helen of Troy declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 39.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.