Helen of Troy Limited $HELE Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Helen of Troy Limited by 146.0%, owning approximately 88,177 shares valued at $4.72 million as of its recent SEC filing.
• Insider transactions revealed that both CFO Tracy Scheuerman and CEO Brian Grass acquired shares on July 15th, indicating their confidence in the company's future.
• Research firms have adjusted their ratings and price targets for Helen of Troy, with Canaccord Genuity reducing its target to $26.00 from $47.00, underscoring a negative outlook on the stock.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE - Free Report) by 146.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 88,177 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 52,331 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.38% of Helen of Troy worth $4,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Helen of Troy by 20.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 149,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,003,000 after buying an additional 25,713 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Helen of Troy by 3,325.3% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 185,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,929,000 after buying an additional 180,197 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Helen of Troy by 111.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 69,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,179,000 after buying an additional 36,795 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Helen of Troy by 7,625.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 37,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,000,000 after buying an additional 36,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Helen of Troy by 27.3% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 72,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,879,000 after buying an additional 15,573 shares during the last quarter.

Helen of Troy Price Performance

HELE traded up $0.44 during trading on Monday, hitting $24.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 790,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 708,968. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Helen of Troy Limited has a twelve month low of $20.02 and a twelve month high of $77.95. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $25.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $563.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.69 and a beta of 0.86.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $371.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Helen of Troy Limited will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HELE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (down from $47.00) on shares of Helen of Troy in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Helen of Troy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Tracy Scheuerman purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.13 per share, with a total value of $201,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 33,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $665,115.33. The trade was a 43.40% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian Grass purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 135,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,918,460.04. The trade was a 7.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 20,435 shares of company stock worth $425,948 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

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.