Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $13.43 and last traded at $13.2450, with a volume of 1329151 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.57.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HLF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Argus set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Herbalife in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Herbalife in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.75.

Herbalife Trading Up 7.0%

The stock has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $9.66 and its 200-day moving average is $9.25.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.04. Herbalife had a net margin of 6.47% and a negative return on equity of 29.84%. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Herbalife Ltd will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Herbalife

In related news, Director Lynda Cloud acquired 17,000 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.97 per share, for a total transaction of $152,490.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 38,857 shares in the company, valued at $348,547.29. This trade represents a 77.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders bought a total of 18,200 shares of company stock worth $167,938 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Herbalife

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Herbalife by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,495,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,223,957 shares during the last quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Herbalife in the 2nd quarter worth about $8,491,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Herbalife by 6,837.9% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 889,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,676,000 after purchasing an additional 902,600 shares in the last quarter. Tenzing Global Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Herbalife during the first quarter worth about $6,904,000. Finally, Manatuck Hill Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Herbalife by 122.2% during the third quarter. Manatuck Hill Partners LLC now owns 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,440,000 after purchasing an additional 550,000 shares during 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.