Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $10.50.

HLF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Herbalife from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.50 target price on shares of Herbalife in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st.

Insider Transactions at Herbalife

In other Herbalife news, Director Rodica Macadrai bought 5,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.31 per share, with a total value of $48,179.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $118,385.96. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Henry C. Wang acquired 2,778 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.30 per share, with a total value of $25,835.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 176,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,604.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Rodica Macadrai acquired 5,175 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.31 per share, with a total value of $48,179.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $118,385.96. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 66,532 shares of company stock valued at $643,642 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Herbalife

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT boosted its position in Herbalife by 49.1% during the fourth quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 1,468,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,411,000 after purchasing an additional 483,635 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Herbalife by 5.6% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,989,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,808,000 after buying an additional 209,949 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Herbalife by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,888,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,814,000 after buying an additional 145,684 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Herbalife by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,561,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,759,000 after buying an additional 43,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Herbalife in the third quarter worth about $381,000.

Herbalife Stock Performance

Shares of HLF stock opened at $10.75 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 7.85 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $9.40 and its 200-day moving average is $11.19. Herbalife has a 1 year low of $6.68 and a 1 year high of $19.48.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 2.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Herbalife will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

About Herbalife

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.