Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF – Get Free Report) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. UBS Group set a $21.00 price target on Herbalife in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Herbalife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Texas Capital raised shares of Herbalife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down from $21.00) on shares of Herbalife in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Herbalife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.67.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Herbalife

Herbalife Stock Performance

Herbalife stock opened at $12.25 on Wednesday. Herbalife has a 1 year low of $7.56 and a 1 year high of $20.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $12.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.13. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.78.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.16%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Herbalife will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Herbalife declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, September 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 19.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Herbalife

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLF. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Herbalife by 11.5% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,596,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,225,000 after acquiring an additional 267,539 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Herbalife by 29.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,877,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,638,000 after purchasing an additional 425,968 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its position in Herbalife by 82.6% in the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 768,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,900,000 after purchasing an additional 347,401 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Herbalife during the 1st quarter valued at $9,491,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Herbalife during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,842,000.

About Herbalife

(Get Free Report)

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) is a global nutrition and wellness company that develops and sells products through a network of independent distributors. Its offerings are designed to support weight management, sports performance, energy, and general well-being.

The company’s product portfolio includes meal-replacement shakes, protein products, dietary supplements, vitamins, teas, hydration products, sports nutrition products, and personal-care items. Herbalife distributes its products in more than 90 countries through direct selling, including person-to-person sales, nutrition clubs, and online channels operated by its independent distributors.

Herbalife was founded in 1980 by Mark Hughes and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

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Analyst Recommendations for Herbalife (NYSE:HLF)

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