Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,670,000 shares, a growth of 7.5% from the January 15th total of 14,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.0 days. Currently, 16.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Herbalife Stock Up 3.1 %

HLF traded up $0.18 on Tuesday, reaching $5.80. 4,024,363 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,050,273. Herbalife has a one year low of $5.04 and a one year high of $12.79. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.28. The company has a market cap of $584.08 million, a P/E ratio of 6.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.15.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herbalife

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Herbalife by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 44,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 1,636 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Herbalife by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 57,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,516 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Herbalife by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 198,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Cinctive Capital Management LP increased its position in Herbalife by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 92,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 3,170 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Herbalife by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 59,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,458 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on HLF. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $13.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. B. Riley lowered 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, October 31st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Herbalife from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.90.

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.