Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Cuts Stake in Helios Technologies, Inc $HLIO

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. cut its stake in Helios Technologies, Inc (NYSE:HLIO) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 758,737 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,680 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Helios Technologies were worth $40,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Helios Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,334,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Helios Technologies by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,530,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,787,000 after buying an additional 112,213 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in Helios Technologies in the third quarter valued at $3,063,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Helios Technologies by 2,779.3% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 287,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,601,000 after acquiring an additional 277,710 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Helios Technologies by 146.8% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 126,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,210,000 after purchasing an additional 75,042 shares during the period. 94.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Helios Technologies Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:HLIO opened at $62.95 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Helios Technologies, Inc has a 52-week low of $24.76 and a 52-week high of $76.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $68.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.65. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.42 and a beta of 1.26.

Helios Technologies (NYSE:HLIO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $210.70 million during the quarter. Helios Technologies had a net margin of 5.78% and a return on equity of 9.36%. Helios Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share.

Helios Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is a boost from Helios Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 13th. Helios Technologies’s payout ratio is 24.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HLIO. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Helios Technologies from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Helios Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Helios Technologies from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Helios Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Finally, CJS Securities upgraded Helios Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Helios Technologies has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.75.

Helios Technologies Profile

Helios Technologies, Inc develops and manufactures engineered motion control and electronic control products for a wide range of industrial and mobile equipment applications. The company’s Hydraulics segment designs and produces hydraulic cartridge valves, manifold systems, pumps and motors, filtration solutions and off-highway joysticks. Its Electronic Controls segment offers programmable electronic control units, wireless telematics, human-machine interfaces and software to optimize performance, efficiency and safety for equipment OEMs and end users.

Through its global network of manufacturing facilities, service centers and technology centers, Helios Technologies serves markets in agriculture, construction, material handling, mining, municipal and recreational vehicles, as well as industrial automation and infrastructure equipment.