Earnest Partners LLC Grows Stake in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)

Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE - Free Report) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 757,339 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 118,982 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 3.31% of Helen of Troy worth $45,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Helen of Troy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 45,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,692,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Helen of Troy by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 131,305 shares of the company's stock worth $7,856,000 after acquiring an additional 6,471 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Helen of Troy by 446.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 646,746 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,695,000 after purchasing an additional 528,305 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Helen of Troy by 73.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,352 shares of the company's stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Helen of Troy in the 4th quarter valued at $484,000.

Helen of Troy Stock Up 1.8 %

HELE traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.21. 684,712 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 535,677. Helen of Troy Limited has a one year low of $26.71 and a one year high of $110.76. The company's fifty day moving average price is $44.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a market cap of $647.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.89.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.35 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $485.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $481.55 million. Helen of Troy had a net margin of 6.05% and a return on equity of 9.13%. Helen of Troy's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Helen of Troy from $68.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Helen of Troy from $92.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Helen of Troy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday.

Helen of Troy 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.