Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $69.06, but opened at $71.03. Helen of Troy shares last traded at $73.66, with a volume of 65,649 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on HELE. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Helen of Troy in a research note on Monday, October 7th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Helen of Troy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th.

Helen of Troy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.85.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last posted its 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 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%. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.35 EPS for the current year.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Helen of Troy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HELE. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Helen of Troy by 30,278.8% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,069,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,176,000 after buying an additional 1,066,418 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Helen of Troy during the third quarter worth about $35,962,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Helen of Troy during the second quarter worth about $29,749,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Helen of Troy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,303,000. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Helen of Troy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $13,800,000.

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.