DA Davidson Boosts Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) Price Target to $71.00

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at DA Davidson from $67.00 to $71.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. DA Davidson’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 4.30% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on HELE. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Helen of Troy from $100.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of Helen of Troy in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Helen of Troy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th.

Helen of Troy Price Performance

Shares of HELE stock traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $74.19. 280,318 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 444,703. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Helen of Troy has a 12-month low of $48.05 and a 12-month high of $127.83. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.66. The company has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.86.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $474.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.85 million. Helen of Troy had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Helen of Troy will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Helen of Troy announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 39.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Helen of Troy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Helen of Troy by 153.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Helen of Troy by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,299,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Helen of Troy by 42.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,727,000 after buying an additional 4,431 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Helen of Troy during the 2nd quarter valued at $289,000.

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.