Short Interest in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) Grows By 11.2%

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,380,000 shares, an increase of 11.2% from the November 15th total of 2,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 578,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Approximately 10.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of Helen of Troy in a report on Monday, October 7th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Helen of Troy from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th.

Helen of Troy Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HELE opened at $67.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.58. Helen of Troy has a twelve month low of $48.05 and a twelve month high of $127.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.88.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.16. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Helen of Troy will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helen of Troy announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 39.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HELE. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Helen of Troy by 374.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Helen of Troy in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Helen of Troy by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC acquired a new stake in Helen of Troy during the 3rd quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Helen of Troy during the 2nd quarter worth $270,000.

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.