Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Separately, DA Davidson raised shares of Herbalife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $7.50 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Herbalife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.20.

Herbalife Stock Performance

HLF stock traded up $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $8.42. 3,714,181 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,196,684. The company has a market cap of $852.89 million, a P/E ratio of 3.38, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.03. Herbalife has a 52-week low of $5.04 and a 52-week high of $12.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $6.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.22.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 5.09% and a negative return on equity of 20.78%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Herbalife will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.25 per share, for a total transaction of $41,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 132,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,093,125. This trade represents a 3.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Herbalife by 641.5% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,714 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Herbalife during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Herbalife by 110.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new position in Herbalife during the 4th quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Herbalife by 12,307.6% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 11,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 11,323 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.