Armistice Capital LLC Takes $19.85 Million Position in Helen of Troy Limited $HELE

Key Points

• Armistice Capital LLC has invested approximately $19.85 million in Helen of Troy Limited, acquiring 371,000 shares, which represents 1.62% of the company.
• Analysts have recently set new price targets for Helen of Troy, with Canaccord Genuity lowering its target from $47.00 to $26.00, and UBS reducing it from $32.00 to $29.00, both suggesting a Hold rating.
• Helen of Troy reported a quarterly earnings miss, with earnings per share of $0.41, significantly below the consensus estimate of $0.91 and revenue down by 10.8% year over year.

Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 371,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,845,000. Armistice Capital LLC owned approximately 1.62% of Helen of Troy as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Helen of Troy by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 780,940 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,772,000 after buying an additional 23,601 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Helen of Troy by 7.2% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 756,227 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,451,000 after buying an additional 50,516 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Helen of Troy by 7.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 520,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,837,000 after buying an additional 38,268 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Helen of Troy by 80.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 364,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,789,000 after buying an additional 162,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Helen of Troy by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 302,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,111,000 after buying an additional 100,767 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Helen of Troy

In other Helen of Troy news, CEO Brian Grass acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.47 per share, for a total transaction of $214,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 135,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,918,460.04. The trade was a 7.94% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Tracy Scheuerman acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.13 per share, with a total value of $201,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 33,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $665,115.33. This trade represents a 43.40% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 20,435 shares of company stock valued at $425,948 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HELE. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $26.00 target price (down previously from $47.00) on shares of Helen of Troy in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Helen of Troy from $32.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.33.

Helen of Troy Trading Up 4.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:HELE traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.92. The company had a trading volume of 886,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 604,964. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.70. Helen of Troy Limited has a 1-year low of $20.02 and a 1-year high of $77.95. The firm has a market cap of $594.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.79 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.90.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.50). Helen of Troy had a negative net margin of 17.89% and a positive return on equity of 8.96%. The company had revenue of $371.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current 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.