Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $10.50.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Bank of America cut 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 16,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.40 per share, with a total value of $151,142.60. Following the purchase, the director now owns 54,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $513,446.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 16,079 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.40 per share, for a total transaction of $151,142.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,622 shares in the company, valued at $513,446.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Henry C. Wang purchased 2,778 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.30 per share, with a total value of $25,835.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 176,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,638,604.20. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 85,757 shares of company stock valued at $723,278 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herbalife

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HLF. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Herbalife by 164.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,288,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,658,000 after buying an additional 801,644 shares in the last quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT lifted its position in Herbalife by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 1,468,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,411,000 after buying an additional 483,635 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in Herbalife in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,013,000. Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Herbalife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,799,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Herbalife by 6,949,960.0% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 347,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,862,000 after buying an additional 347,498 shares in the last quarter.

Herbalife Stock Performance

HLF stock opened at $9.21 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $919.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 1.22. Herbalife has a 1 year low of $6.68 and a 1 year high of $19.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $8.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.80.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 2.81% and a negative return on equity of 19.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Herbalife will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Herbalife

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.