Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Separately, DA Davidson raised Herbalife from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $7.50 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $11.50.

Herbalife Price Performance

HLF traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $6.63. 3,847,328 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,271,341. Herbalife has a one year low of $5.04 and a one year high of $12.79. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $7.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.25. The company has a market cap of $671.89 million, a PE ratio of 2.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.02.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 20.78% and a net margin of 5.09%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Herbalife will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Herbalife

In other Herbalife news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza bought 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.25 per share, for a total transaction of $41,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 132,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,093,125. The trade was a 3.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.73% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 641.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,714 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Herbalife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Herbalife by 199.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,969 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 5,310 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 110.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 5,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Herbalife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $71,000.

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.