Helen of Troy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:HELE)

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 5,718 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,039% compared to the average volume of 502 put options.

Helen of Troy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HELE opened at $61.76 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $98.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.30. The company has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.84. Helen of Troy has a 12 month low of $60.00 and a 12 month high of $143.68.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 9th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.60). The business had revenue of $416.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.85 million. Helen of Troy had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 8.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Helen of Troy will post 8.07 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Helen of Troy in the first quarter valued at $29,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Helen of Troy by 374.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Helen of Troy by 153.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Helen of Troy in the first quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Helen of Troy in the first quarter valued at $218,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HELE. DA Davidson downgraded Helen of Troy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $139.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price objective on Helen of Troy from $100.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on Helen of Troy from $137.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Helen of Troy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

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.