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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HLF. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. B. Riley upped their price objective on Herbalife from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Herbalife from $9.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $12.33.

Herbalife Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of HLF opened at $7.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $741.76 million, a P/E ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $9.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.72. Herbalife has a 52 week low of $6.68 and a 52 week high of $15.71.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 18.69% and a net margin of 1.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Herbalife will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Herbalife news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $7.11 per share, for a total transaction of $71,100.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 120,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $853,200. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herbalife

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLF. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Herbalife by 465.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 2,908 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Herbalife by 240.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 5,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Herbalife by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Herbalife during the 1st quarter valued at about $105,000.

About Herbalife

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.