Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $79.00 to $69.00. The stock had previously closed at $59.29, but opened at $56.88. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Helen of Troy shares last traded at $55.19, with a volume of 222,359 shares trading hands.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on HELE. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of Helen of Troy in a research report on Monday, October 7th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Helen of Troy from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helen of Troy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HELE. First Hawaiian Bank increased its stake in shares of Helen of Troy by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 10,032 shares of the company's stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Helen of Troy by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 48,961 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,923,000 after buying an additional 2,675 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Helen of Troy by 96.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 484 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Helen of Troy by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 83,889 shares of the company's stock worth $5,189,000 after acquiring an additional 5,920 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Helen of Troy by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 124,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,721,000 after acquiring an additional 34,318 shares during the period.

Helen of Troy Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.90. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $66.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.04. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $530.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $532.91 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 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. Research analysts expect that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.