Short Interest in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) Increases By 26.8%

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,300,000 shares, a growth of 26.8% from the March 31st total of 12,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days. Approximately 16.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HLF has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Herbalife from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Herbalife currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herbalife

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Herbalife by 164.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,288,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,658,000 after purchasing an additional 801,644 shares during the period. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT boosted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 49.1% during the fourth quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 1,468,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,411,000 after purchasing an additional 483,635 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new position in Herbalife during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,013,000. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in Herbalife in the 4th quarter worth $5,799,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Herbalife by 6,949,960.0% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 347,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,862,000 after purchasing an additional 347,498 shares during the period.

Herbalife Price Performance

HLF stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.65. 1,505,018 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,196,692. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $8.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $863.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 1.22. Herbalife has a one year low of $6.68 and a one year high of $19.48.

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

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.