Mizuho Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Stock

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) had its price target upped by Mizuho from $8.00 to $9.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on HLF. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Herbalife from $13.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Herbalife from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Herbalife from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.42.

Herbalife Stock Performance

Shares of HLF opened at $8.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $829.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $7.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.30. Herbalife has a 52-week low of $6.59 and a 52-week high of $15.66.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.38. Herbalife had a net margin of 1.73% and a negative return on equity of 18.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Herbalife will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.72 per share, with a total value of $87,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $959,200. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLF. Windacre Partnership LLC grew its stake in shares of Herbalife by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 9,203,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,495,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Herbalife by 11.6% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,879,603 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,776,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,354,000 after buying an additional 500,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 3,202,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,279,000 after acquiring an additional 323,969 shares in 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.