Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

HLF has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. DA Davidson increased 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. Finally, B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Herbalife from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Herbalife currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.33.

Herbalife Stock Up 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE HLF traded up $0.31 on Wednesday, reaching $7.98. 2,236,293 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,200,757. Herbalife has a 12 month low of $6.68 and a 12 month high of $16.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.11. The company has a market cap of $797.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.25.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Herbalife will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLF. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its position in Herbalife by 128.3% in the second quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 5,124,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,879,603 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Herbalife by 2,053.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,977,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885,346 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Herbalife by 3,832.5% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,631,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,880 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Herbalife by 164.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,288,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,658,000 after purchasing an additional 801,644 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Herbalife by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 6,653,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,129,000 after purchasing an additional 692,800 shares during the period.

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.