Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give Herbalife a “Moderate Buy” consensus: Of eight analysts, three recommend buying, one strongly recommends buying, and four rate the stock as a hold. The average 12-month price target is $17.67, above the reported share price of $11.93.
• Herbalife’s latest quarterly results were mixed: revenue rose 5.4% year over year to $1.33 billion and exceeded estimates, while earnings per share of $0.51 fell short of the $0.54 consensus.
• The board authorized a $250 million share-repurchase program, allowing the company to buy back up to 19.3% of its outstanding shares; several institutional investors also increased their positions during the second quarter.

Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.6667.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HLF. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 target price (down from $21.00) on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Texas Capital upgraded Herbalife to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Herbalife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group set a $21.00 target price on Herbalife in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Herbalife from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th.

Institutional Trading of Herbalife

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLF. Miramontes Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Herbalife during the second quarter worth about $179,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Herbalife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $140,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in Herbalife by 154.1% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 202,483 shares of the company's stock worth $2,663,000 after acquiring an additional 122,788 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Herbalife by 39.4% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 428,376 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,633,000 after acquiring an additional 121,026 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its holdings in Herbalife by 697.8% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 179,125 shares of the company's stock worth $2,355,000 after acquiring an additional 156,672 shares during the period.

Herbalife Stock Performance

NYSE:HLF opened at $11.93 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 7.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.85. Herbalife has a fifty-two week low of $7.56 and a fifty-two week high of $20.40.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF - Get Free Report) 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). The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 3.16% and a negative return on equity of 43.90%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Herbalife will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Herbalife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 19.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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, balanced nutrition, energy, sports performance and personal care.

The company's product portfolio includes meal-replacement shakes, protein and fiber products, dietary supplements, vitamins, herbal teas, sports nutrition products and skin- and body-care items. Herbalife distributes its products in markets around the world, including North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa, primarily through direct selling and independent members who provide product information and personalized support to consumers.

Herbalife was founded in 1980 by Mark Hughes and has since expanded from a primarily weight-management business into a broader nutrition and wellness enterprise.

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