Helios Technologies (NASDAQ:HLIO) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Key Points

• Helios Technologies shares experienced a significant rise, opening at $44.29 following a stronger than expected earnings report, with an EPS of $0.59 compared to the consensus estimate of $0.50.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09, contributing to an annualized dividend of $0.36 and a yield of 0.8% while maintaining a dividend payout ratio of 32.43%.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.72% of the company’s stock, with significant increases in stakes from various investment groups during recent quarters.

Helios Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIO - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $36.71, but opened at $44.29. Helios Technologies shares last traded at $45.96, with a volume of 130,453 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.09. Helios Technologies had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 8.22%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Helios Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 21st. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. Helios Technologies's payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on HLIO shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Helios Technologies from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Helios Technologies from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Helios Technologies from $65.00 to $49.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th.

Institutional Trading of Helios Technologies

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLIO. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Helios Technologies by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,438,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,227,000 after purchasing an additional 79,178 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Helios Technologies by 9.6% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 789,915 shares of the company's stock worth $25,349,000 after buying an additional 68,990 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Helios Technologies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 637,703 shares of the company's stock worth $28,467,000 after buying an additional 5,684 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Helios Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth about $21,036,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Helios Technologies by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 569,169 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,408,000 after acquiring an additional 2,255 shares during the last quarter. 94.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Helios Technologies Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.70. The company has a current ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.82 and a beta of 1.28.

About Helios Technologies

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.