Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Stock Price Up 9.5% – Time to Buy?

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) shares shot up 9.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $6.30 and last traded at $6.16. 931,513 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 1,928,353 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HLF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on Herbalife from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Herbalife from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. B. Riley cut their price target on shares of Herbalife from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $7.50 price objective on shares of Herbalife in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Herbalife has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.90.

Herbalife Stock Up 43.4 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $6.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.24. The company has a market capitalization of $812.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.15.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.28. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 18.66% and a net margin of 1.73%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herbalife

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Herbalife by 641.5% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,714 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Herbalife during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Herbalife by 110.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 5,524 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Herbalife in the fourth quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in Herbalife by 12,307.6% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 11,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 11,323 shares during the period.

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.