Spinoff Spotlight

Article Excerpt

HELEN OF TROY LTD. $112 (Nasdaq symbol HELE; Shares outstanding: 25.6 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; No dividends paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.hotus.com) designs and distributes a wide variety of consumer products in three categories: Health & Home (46% of its 2018 sales), which includes thermometers and blood pressure monitors; Housewares (31%) such as food preparation tools and bathroom accessories; and Beauty (23%), which includes shampoos and skin creams, The company will now sell the Personal Care business of its Beauty division. Those products include Pert and Infusium shampoos as well as Brut and Sure deodorants. Depending on the offers it receives, Helen of Troy could decide instead to spin off the operations. The sale is part of Helen of Troy’s plan to focus on its more-profitable brands. They include Braun (electric shavers), PUR (water filters), Vicks (humidifiers), OXO (kitchen utensils), and Hydro Flask (water bottles). In all, those products contribute 80% of total sales. The shares hit an all-time high of $145.47 in December…