Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on HLF. Mizuho boosted 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $9.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, B. Riley increased their target price on Herbalife from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.33.

Herbalife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HLF opened at $7.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $752.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.20. Herbalife has a 1-year low of $6.68 and a 1-year high of $15.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.75.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.11. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 18.69% and a net margin of 1.63%. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Herbalife will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.72 per share, with a total value of $87,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $959,200. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herbalife

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its stake in Herbalife by 3.4% in the first quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 9,203,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,495,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 11.6% in 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 last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 128.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 5,124,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,879,603 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,776,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,354,000 after purchasing an additional 500,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC increased its position in Herbalife by 11.3% during the second quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 3,202,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,279,000 after buying an additional 323,969 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.