Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on HELE. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Helen of Troy from $68.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Helen of Troy from $92.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Helen of Troy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HELE opened at $27.71 on Friday. Helen of Troy has a 1-year low of $26.71 and a 1-year high of $110.76. The stock has a market cap of $635.75 million, a P/E ratio of 5.59, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.50.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by ($0.02). Helen of Troy had a net margin of 6.05% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The business had revenue of $485.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $481.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Helen of Troy will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helen of Troy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Helen of Troy by 20.8% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 149,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,003,000 after purchasing an additional 25,713 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 134,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,205,000 after purchasing an additional 3,384 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Helen of Troy by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 3,198 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Helen of Troy in the 1st quarter valued at about $207,000. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Helen of Troy by 47.0% during the 1st quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 7,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 2,266 shares during the last quarter.

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.