Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Buys 68,990 Shares of Helios Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIO)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Helios Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIO - Free Report) by 9.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 789,915 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 68,990 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 2.37% of Helios Technologies worth $25,349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HLIO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Helios Technologies by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 157,551 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,033,000 after purchasing an additional 22,680 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Helios Technologies by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,328,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $148,568,000 after buying an additional 13,059 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Helios Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,079,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its position in Helios Technologies by 150.2% during the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 219,900 shares of the company's stock worth $9,816,000 after acquiring an additional 132,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Helios Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $517,000. 94.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Helios Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HLIO traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 105,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 234,902. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 3.03. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.49 and a beta of 1.25. The business's 50 day moving average price is $29.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.49. Helios Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.76 and a fifty-two week high of $57.29.

Helios Technologies (NASDAQ:HLIO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.08. Helios Technologies had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 4.57%. Helios Technologies's revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Helios Technologies, Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helios Technologies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Helios Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Helios Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 32.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on HLIO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Helios Technologies from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Helios Technologies from $65.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th.

Helios Technologies Profile

Helios Technologies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides engineered motion control and electronic control technology solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Hydraulics and Electronics. The Hydraulics segment offers cartridge valve technology products to control rates and direction of fluid flow, and to regulate and control pressures for industrial and mobile applications; hydraulic quick release coupling solutions for the agriculture, construction equipment, and industrial markets; motion control technology and fluid conveyance technology; cartridge valve technology; engineered solutions for machine users, manufacturers, or designers.