Herbalife Ltd $HLF Position Lessened by CenterBook Partners LP

CenterBook Partners LP cut its position in shares of Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF) by 77.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,412 shares of the company’s stock after selling 71,597 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Herbalife were worth $260,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Herbalife by 11.5% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,596,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,225,000 after buying an additional 267,539 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Herbalife by 29.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,877,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,638,000 after acquiring an additional 425,968 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Herbalife in the 1st quarter valued at about $9,491,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Herbalife in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,842,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in Herbalife by 39.4% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 428,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,633,000 after purchasing an additional 121,026 shares during the period.

Herbalife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HLF opened at $15.91 on Friday. Herbalife Ltd has a 1 year low of $8.65 and a 1 year high of $20.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 6.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $13.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.93.

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

Herbalife declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, September 8th that allows the company to buy back $250 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 19.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $21.00 price target on Herbalife in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target (down from $21.00) on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Texas Capital raised shares of Herbalife to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Herbalife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.50.

Herbalife 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.