USANA Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded USANA Health Sciences from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating, and MarketBeat data shows mixed analyst views with an average rating of "Reduce" (including a Weiss Ratings "sell" and a Wall Street Zen "buy").
• USANA recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.60 vs. $0.41) with revenue essentially in line, and its shares trade around $19 with a market cap of about $355 million and a P/E near 35.
• Several hedge funds materially increased positions in the company recently (including Millennium, Two Sigma, UBS and others), institutional owners hold roughly 54.25% of the stock, while insiders own about 0.82% and one insider sold 4,461 shares in February.

USANA Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

USNA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of USANA Health Sciences in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of USANA Health Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, USANA Health Sciences currently has an average rating of "Reduce".

USANA Health Sciences Stock Performance

NYSE USNA opened at $19.23 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $18.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.95. USANA Health Sciences has a twelve month low of $16.60 and a twelve month high of $38.32. The stock has a market cap of $354.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.96, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.71.

USANA Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $226.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.96 million. USANA Health Sciences had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 1.16%. On average, research analysts forecast that USANA Health Sciences will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Joshua Foukas sold 4,461 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.34, for a total transaction of $95,197.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On USANA Health Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in USANA Health Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $11,485,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of USANA Health Sciences by 715.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 285,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,603,000 after buying an additional 250,424 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of USANA Health Sciences by 349.8% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 160,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,434,000 after buying an additional 125,158 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of USANA Health Sciences by 252.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 138,334 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,715,000 after buying an additional 99,063 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its position in USANA Health Sciences by 354.8% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 109,686 shares of the company's stock worth $2,153,000 after buying an additional 85,570 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.25% of the company's stock.

About USANA Health Sciences

USANA Health Sciences, Inc is a Utah‐based company that develops, manufactures and distributes nutritional supplements and personal care products through a network of independent distributors. Founded in 1992 by Dr. Myron Wentz, the company's portfolio includes vitamins, minerals, dietary supplements, weight‐management products and skin‐care formulations. USANA's products are formulated in its own laboratories to meet pharmaceutical‐grade standards, and the company has invested heavily in research and development and quality control to support its offerings.

Operating primarily through a direct selling model, USANA serves markets in North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.