Bank of America Corp DE Acquires 162,460 Shares of Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)

Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE - Free Report) by 80.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 364,180 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 162,460 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 1.59% of Helen of Troy worth $21,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Helen of Troy by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Helen of Troy by 73.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,352 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Helen of Troy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $150,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in Helen of Troy by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 67,543 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,041,000 after buying an additional 9,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Helen of Troy by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 131,305 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,856,000 after buying an additional 6,471 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Helen of Troy from $92.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Helen of Troy from $68.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Helen of Troy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd.

Helen of Troy Stock Down 6.4%

HELE traded down $1.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.24. 719,878 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 569,831. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $36.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Helen of Troy Limited has a 12-month low of $24.15 and a 12-month high of $108.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $602.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.29, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.91.

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