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 released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on HLF. Zacks Research upgraded Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. UBS Group set a $21.00 price objective on Herbalife in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Texas Capital upgraded Herbalife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Thursday. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.67.

Herbalife Stock Performance

Shares of Herbalife stock opened at $13.30 on Friday. Herbalife has a 1 year low of $7.56 and a 1 year high of $20.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.04. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of 6.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.78.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Herbalife will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Herbalife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, September 8th that allows the company to repurchase $250 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 19.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Herbalife by 135.1% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Herbalife in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,052,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its position in Herbalife by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 77,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Herbalife by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 18,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 5,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avaii Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Herbalife during the 3rd quarter valued at about $459,000.

About Herbalife

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) is a global nutrition and wellness company that develops and distributes products through a network of independent members and distributors. Its offerings include meal-replacement shakes, protein and other dietary supplements, vitamins, sports nutrition products, and personal-care items.

Founded in 1980 by Mark Hughes, Herbalife sells its products through direct-selling channels rather than primarily through traditional retail stores. Independent distributors market the products, provide product guidance, and may operate nutrition clubs or similar community-based businesses.

The company serves customers across numerous markets in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and other regions.