StockNews.com Downgrades Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) to Buy

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

Separately, DA Davidson raised shares of Herbalife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $7.50 to $14.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Herbalife Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of Herbalife stock opened at $7.24 on Tuesday. Herbalife has a 52-week low of $5.04 and a 52-week high of $12.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $7.79 and a 200 day moving average of $7.25. The company has a market capitalization of $733.71 million, a P/E ratio of 2.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.02.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.19. Herbalife had a net margin of 5.09% and a negative return on equity of 20.78%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Herbalife will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Herbalife news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.25 per share, with a total value of $41,250.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 132,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,093,125. The trade was a 3.92 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HLF. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Herbalife by 641.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,714 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Herbalife in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Herbalife by 110.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 5,524 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new position in Herbalife in the fourth quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Herbalife by 12,307.6% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 11,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 11,323 shares in the last quarter.

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.