Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $9.50 price objective on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.70.

Herbalife Price Performance

HLF opened at $11.36 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 1.25. Herbalife has a one year low of $6.68 and a one year high of $19.48.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 2.70% and a negative return on equity of 19.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Herbalife will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Herbalife news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.17 per share, for a total transaction of $25,425.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 80,779 shares in the company, valued at $821,522.43. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Donal L. Mulligan purchased 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $289,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 60,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $579,000. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.17 per share, for a total transaction of $25,425.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 80,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $821,522.43. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 42,500 shares of company stock worth $418,485. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herbalife

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 465.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 2,908 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Herbalife during the first quarter valued at approximately $393,000. Windacre Partnership LLC grew its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 3.4% during the first quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 9,203,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,495,000 after buying an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 3,832.5% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,631,000 after buying an additional 1,127,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 22.9% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 5,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter.

Herbalife Company Profile

Herbalife Ltd. provides health and wellness products in North America, Mexico, South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China, and the Asia Pacific. It offers products in the areas of weight management; targeted nutrition; energy, sports, and fitness; outer nutrition; and literature and promotional items.