Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Trading Up 7.5% – What’s Next?

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)’s share price was up 7.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $8.19 and last traded at $8.12. Approximately 1,444,437 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 2,099,374 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on HLF shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Herbalife from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Herbalife from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $13.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.75.

Herbalife Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $7.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.29. The stock has a market cap of $794.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.19.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.38. Herbalife had a net margin of 1.73% and a negative return on equity of 18.25%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Herbalife news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.72 per share, for a total transaction of $87,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 110,000 shares in the company, valued at $959,200. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herbalife

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Windacre Partnership LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Herbalife by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 6,653,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,129,000 after acquiring an additional 692,800 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA grew its stake in Herbalife by 128.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 5,124,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,879,603 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Herbalife by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,776,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,354,000 after acquiring an additional 500,876 shares during the period. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 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.