Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

HLF has been the subject of several other reports. Texas Capital upgraded Herbalife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price objective (down from $21.00) on shares of Herbalife in a report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group set a $21.00 target price on Herbalife in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Zacks Research lowered Herbalife from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Herbalife from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Herbalife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.50.

Herbalife Trading Down 0.3%

HLF opened at $15.54 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.16 and a 200 day moving average of $13.94. The company has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 6.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.74. Herbalife has a 12 month low of $8.65 and a 12 month high of $20.40.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.02. Herbalife had a net margin of 3.41% and a negative return on equity of 52.54%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. Herbalife’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Herbalife will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herbalife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, September 8th that permits the company to repurchase $250 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 19.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Herbalife in the first quarter worth $9,491,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Herbalife during the second quarter valued at $5,842,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Herbalife by 29.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,877,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,638,000 after buying an additional 425,968 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Herbalife during the third quarter worth about $3,533,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Herbalife by 11.5% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,596,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,225,000 after buying an additional 267,539 shares in the last quarter.

Herbalife Company Profile

Herbalife Ltd. is a global nutrition company that develops and sells products focused on nutrition, weight management, fitness and personal care. Its offerings include meal-replacement shakes, protein products, dietary supplements, teas and sports-nutrition products. Founded in 1980 by Mark Hughes, Herbalife sells its products through a network of independent distributors who also provide product information and support to customers. The company serves customers in markets around the world and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.