Helen Of Troy (HELE) Makes New Share Buyback Authorization

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) has announced a new share buyback program worth $400 million that is effective May 10, 2017, for a period of three years. This buyback plan accounts for roughly 15% of the company’s outstanding shares based upon its closing price on May 10.

As of April 21, 2017, the company had outstanding shares of nearly 27.1 million. In fact, this program replaces the earlier buyback program, out of which $83 million is the leftover balance. Following the buyback news, its shares rose 3.9% on May 15.

In fiscal 2017, Helen of Troy bought back shares worth $75 million. Moreover, the company has deployed over $875 million of capital since Mar 2014, which includes its three acquisitions coupled with various share buybacks.

These buyback programs are expected to boost shareholders’ value and on the company’s part, the same enhances its financial performance, positioning it well for the future. Moving ahead, management remains optimistic about returning cash to its investors.

Notably, Helen of Troy boasts a solid earnings history, as its earnings have outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate for seven straight quarters when it reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2017 results.

However, this leading consumer products company’s top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the second time in a row in the fourth quarter. Further, estimates have moved southwards over the last 30 days. In this time frame, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.13 and $6.28 for the first quarter and fiscal 2018 has also declined 5% and 1.7%, respectively.

We note that this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) stock declined 2.4% over the past three months against the Zacks Categorized Cosmetics & Toiletries industry’s gain of 3.7%. The industry is currently placed at top 41% (104 out of 256) of the Zacks Classified industries. Also, the stock has underperformed the broader Consumer Staples sector’s gain of 3% in the time period. The sector is currently placed at top 50% (8 out of 16) of the Zacks Classified sectors.

Key Picks

Better-ranked stocks in the broader Consumer Staples sector include Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings (NASDAQ:OLLI) , Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR) and e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) .

Ollie's Bargain, with a long-term earnings growth rate of 17.1% has surged 66.8% in the past year. The stock sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Inter Parfums carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) has jumped 26.6% in the past year. Also, it has a long-term earnings growth rate of 12%.

e.l.f. Beauty, a Zacks Rank #2 stock has a long-term earnings growth rate of 20%.

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