Helios Technologies, Inc $HLIO Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its Helios Technologies stake by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, but still held 3.16 million shares worth about $169.2 million, or 9.55% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive overall: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with a consensus price target of $80.67. Recent moves included price-target increases from Stifel Nicolaus and KeyCorp, though Zacks Research downgraded the name to Hold.
• Helios Technologies reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.81 per share on revenue of $210.7 million, and it recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.12 per share from $0.09.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Helios Technologies, Inc (NYSE:HLIO - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,162,279 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,580 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.55% of Helios Technologies worth $169,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC raised its stake in Helios Technologies by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,886 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Helios Technologies by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 4,186 shares of the company's stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Helios Technologies by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 89,391 shares of the company's stock worth $2,868,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Helios Technologies by 4.6% during the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 14,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Finally, Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Helios Technologies during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HLIO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Helios Technologies from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Helios Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Helios Technologies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Helios Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Helios Technologies from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.67.

Helios Technologies Stock Up 0.2%

HLIO stock opened at $68.33 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.12 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Helios Technologies, Inc has a 52 week low of $28.79 and a 52 week high of $76.47.

Helios Technologies (NYSE:HLIO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $210.70 million during the quarter. Helios Technologies had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 9.36%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Helios Technologies, Inc will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helios Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 27th. Investors of record on Monday, April 13th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 13th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Helios Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Helios Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.10%.

About Helios Technologies

Helios Technologies, Inc develops and manufactures engineered motion control and electronic control products for a wide range of industrial and mobile equipment applications. The company's Hydraulics segment designs and produces hydraulic cartridge valves, manifold systems, pumps and motors, filtration solutions and off-highway joysticks. Its Electronic Controls segment offers programmable electronic control units, wireless telematics, human-machine interfaces and software to optimize performance, efficiency and safety for equipment OEMs and end users.

Through its global network of manufacturing facilities, service centers and technology centers, Helios Technologies serves markets in agriculture, construction, material handling, mining, municipal and recreational vehicles, as well as industrial automation and infrastructure equipment.

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