Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE - Get Free Report) saw 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. Approximately 10.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 578,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on HELE. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Helen of Troy from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Helen of Troy in a report on Monday, October 7th.

Helen of Troy Stock Performance

Shares of HELE stock traded down $0.77 on Friday, hitting $68.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 360,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 440,606. The stock's 50 day moving average is $67.87 and its 200-day moving average is $69.08. Helen of Troy has a fifty-two week low of $48.05 and a fifty-two week high of $127.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $474.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.85 million. Helen of Troy had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 7.35%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Helen of Troy will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helen of Troy announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 39.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Helen of Troy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Helen of Troy by 30,278.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,069,940 shares of the company's stock worth $66,176,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,418 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Helen of Troy by 116.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 57,716 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,570,000 after acquiring an additional 30,993 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Helen of Troy by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 124,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,721,000 after purchasing an additional 34,318 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Helen of Troy by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 666,256 shares of the company's stock worth $61,789,000 after purchasing an additional 17,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Helen of Troy in the second quarter worth approximately $829,000.

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.