StockNews.com Lowers Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Herbalife from $9.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Herbalife has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $12.33.

Herbalife Stock Performance

NYSE:HLF opened at $7.53 on Thursday. Herbalife has a one year low of $6.68 and a one year high of $15.71. The firm has a market cap of $752.76 million, a P/E ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.75.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.11. Herbalife had a net margin of 1.63% and a negative return on equity of 18.69%. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Herbalife will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 10,000 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.72 per share, for a total transaction of $87,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 110,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $959,200. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Herbalife

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Windacre Partnership LLC grew its position in Herbalife by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 9,203,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,495,000 after purchasing an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Herbalife by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 6,653,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,129,000 after purchasing an additional 692,800 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA grew its position in Herbalife by 128.3% during the 2nd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 5,124,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,879,603 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Herbalife by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,776,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,354,000 after purchasing an additional 500,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 3,202,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,279,000 after acquiring an additional 323,969 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.