Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on HLF. Mizuho raised their price objective on Herbalife from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. B. Riley dropped their price target on shares of Herbalife from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson decreased 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, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.42.

Herbalife Price Performance

Shares of HLF stock opened at $8.23 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $829.50 million, a PE ratio of 9.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $7.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.30. Herbalife has a 12 month low of $6.59 and a 12 month high of $15.66.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 18.66% and a net margin of 1.73%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Herbalife will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Herbalife

In related news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.72 per share, for a total transaction of $87,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $959,200. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herbalife

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 465.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 2,908 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC increased its stake in Herbalife by 240.0% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 5,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings 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 worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Herbalife during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $78,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 808 shares in 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.