Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Reduces Position in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its stake in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 264,616 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,727 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.16% of Helen of Troy worth $16,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Helen of Troy by 153.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 576 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Helen of Troy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $263,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Helen of Troy by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,109,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Helen of Troy during the first quarter valued at approximately $815,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Helen of Troy by 374.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HELE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Helen of Troy in a research report on Monday, October 7th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Helen of Troy from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday.

Helen of Troy Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of HELE opened at $71.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Helen of Troy Limited has a 1 year low of $48.05 and a 1 year high of $127.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.18.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $474.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $458.85 million. Helen of Troy had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 9.31%. Helen of Troy’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helen of Troy announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 39.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign 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.