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

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,560,000 shares, an increase of 26.0% from the December 15th total of 10,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,380,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.7 days. Currently, 13.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herbalife

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HLF. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 41,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Herbalife by 3.3% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 51,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Herbalife by 1.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 149,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after buying an additional 1,953 shares during the last quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 3.6% in the third quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 92,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,000 after acquiring an additional 3,170 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Herbalife by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 59,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,458 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on HLF shares. StockNews.com upgraded Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Herbalife from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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 note on Thursday, October 31st. B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Herbalife from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Herbalife from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.90.

Herbalife Trading Up 1.0 %

HLF stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $6.57. 1,045,510 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,204,483. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $7.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $661.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72, a PEG ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 1.18. Herbalife has a 52-week low of $6.05 and a 52-week high of $12.95.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.38. Herbalife had a net margin of 1.73% and a negative return on equity of 18.66%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Herbalife will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.