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

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,660,000 shares, a decline of 8.0% from the May 31st total of 14,840,000 shares. Currently, 14.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.17 per share, with a total value of $25,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 80,779 shares in the company, valued at $821,522.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.17 per share, with a total value of $25,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 80,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $821,522.43. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Donal L. Mulligan purchased 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $289,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $579,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 42,500 shares of company stock valued at $418,485. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,561,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,759,000 after acquiring an additional 43,452 shares during the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC boosted 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 worth $92,495,000 after buying an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA boosted its stake in Herbalife by 33.6% in the first quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 2,244,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,561,000 after buying an additional 565,124 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Herbalife by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,888,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,814,000 after acquiring an additional 145,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Herbalife by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,624,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,788,000 after acquiring an additional 116,030 shares in the last quarter.

Herbalife Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of HLF stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $11.37. 1,173,590 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,215,335. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $10.64 and its 200 day moving average is $10.76. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.25. Herbalife has a 1 year low of $6.68 and a 1 year high of $19.48.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.12. Herbalife had a net margin of 2.70% and a negative return on equity of 19.97%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Herbalife will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HLF. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho upped their price objective on Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $9.50 price objective on shares of Herbalife in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.70.

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.