Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Shares Up 5% – Here’s What Happened

Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF)’s share price rose 5% during trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $13.61 and last traded at $13.6870. 925,609 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 1,559,508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Herbalife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price target (down from $21.00) on shares of Herbalife in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Texas Capital upgraded shares of Herbalife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.67.

Herbalife Trading Up 4.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 6.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.01.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.03). Herbalife had a net margin of 3.16% and a negative return on equity of 43.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Herbalife’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Herbalife Ltd will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Herbalife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, September 8th that permits the company to buy back $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 19.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herbalife

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLF. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Herbalife by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,596,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,225,000 after purchasing an additional 267,539 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Herbalife by 29.3% in the 1st 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 raised its holdings in Herbalife by 82.6% in the 4th 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 in the 1st quarter worth $9,491,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Herbalife in the 2nd quarter worth $5,842,000.

Herbalife Company Profile

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.