DA Davidson Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Herbalife (NYSE:HLF)

DA Davidson restated their neutral rating on shares of Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $9.50 price target on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho reduced their target price on Herbalife from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Herbalife from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $10.50.

Herbalife Price Performance

NYSE HLF traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $9.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,175,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,315,448. The company’s 50-day moving average is $8.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.55. Herbalife has a 1-year low of $6.68 and a 1-year high of $19.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $957.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 1.24.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last announced its earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 2.70%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Herbalife will post 1.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Herbalife

In other Herbalife news, Director Rodica Macadrai acquired 5,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.31 per share, for a total transaction of $48,179.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $118,385.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Herbalife news, Director Rodica Macadrai acquired 5,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.31 per share, for a total transaction of $48,179.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $118,385.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Johnson acquired 61,725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.07 per share, with a total value of $498,120.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 603,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,871,915.49. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 85,757 shares of company stock valued at $723,278. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HLF. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Herbalife by 44.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 53,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 16,275 shares during the period. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Herbalife by 3.5% during the third quarter. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. now owns 3,121,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,669,000 after buying an additional 104,567 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Herbalife by 230.8% during the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 67,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $946,000 after buying an additional 47,182 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Herbalife by 1.2% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 217,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,042,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Herbalife by 9.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,742,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,378,000 after buying an additional 147,003 shares during the period.

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.