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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

A number of other research firms have also commented on HLF. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $9.50 price objective on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Herbalife presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $10.70.

Herbalife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HLF opened at $11.66 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $11.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.37. Herbalife has a 52-week low of $6.68 and a 52-week high of $19.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 1.25.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.49 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 company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Herbalife will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Herbalife news, Director Donal L. Mulligan acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $289,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $579,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Herbalife news, Director Donal L. Mulligan acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $289,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $579,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.67 per share, for a total transaction of $29,010.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 73,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $708,607.93. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 42,500 shares of company stock valued at $418,485 over the last ninety days. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,561,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,759,000 after buying an additional 43,452 shares in the last quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 33.6% in the first quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 2,244,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,561,000 after purchasing an additional 565,124 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 8.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 145,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,624,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,788,000 after purchasing an additional 116,030 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.