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

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

Helen of Troy Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ HELE opened at $61.44 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.56. Helen of Troy has a 12 month low of $48.05 and a 12 month high of $127.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.85.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 9th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.60). Helen of Troy had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm had revenue of $416.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. Helen of Troy’s quarterly revenue was down 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side 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 repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 39.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HELE. DA Davidson lowered Helen of Troy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $139.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut 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. 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 lowered shares of Helen of Troy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HELE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Helen of Troy in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,380,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Helen of Troy by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Helen of Troy during the fourth quarter worth $412,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings 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 valued at $212,750,000 after purchasing an additional 114,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in Helen of Troy by 1,351.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 89,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,866,000 after acquiring an additional 83,744 shares during the last quarter.

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.