Geode Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)

Geode Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) by 8.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 535,883 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,794 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Helen of Troy were worth $33,151,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Helen of Troy by 30,278.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,069,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,176,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,418 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Helen of Troy by 116.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 57,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,570,000 after purchasing an additional 30,993 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Helen of Troy by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 124,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,721,000 after purchasing an additional 34,318 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Helen of Troy by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 666,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,789,000 after buying an additional 17,741 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Helen of Troy in the 2nd quarter worth $829,000.

Helen of Troy Price Performance

Shares of HELE stock opened at $61.58 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $67.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.88. Helen of Troy Limited has a 1-year low of $48.05 and a 1-year high of $127.83. 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 (NASDAQ:HELE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.16. Helen of Troy had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 7.35%. The business had revenue of $474.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.85 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.