Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $16.37 Million Stock Position in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its position in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE - Free Report) by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 264,616 shares of the company's stock after selling 57,727 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.16% of Helen of Troy worth $16,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HELE. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Helen of Troy by 88.6% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 10,099 shares of the company's stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 4,743 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Helen of Troy in the third quarter worth about $35,962,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Helen of Troy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $674,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Helen of Troy by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,754 shares of the company's stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 2,727 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Helen of Troy by 211.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 17,915 shares of the company's stock worth $1,108,000 after buying an additional 12,162 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on HELE. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of Helen of Troy in a research report on Monday, October 7th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Helen of Troy from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday.

Helen of Troy Price Performance

NASDAQ:HELE traded down $0.95 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $70.72. 381,862 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 446,510. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.85. Helen of Troy Limited 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 $64.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helen of Troy announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 39.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.