Wall Street Zen Downgrades Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Herbalife to “Hold” from “Buy,” joining a broader analyst consensus of “Hold” with an average price target of $17.00.
• Herbalife shares opened at $12.33 and have risen 7.2%, but the company’s latest quarterly EPS of $0.51 missed estimates of $0.54 despite revenue of $1.33 billion, up 5.4% year over year.
• Insiders sold 191,296 shares worth approximately $2.55 million over the past 90 days, including significant sales by an insider and the chief operating officer.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on HLF. Mizuho set a $17.00 price target on Herbalife in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Herbalife from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Zacks Research cut Herbalife from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings cut Herbalife from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 target price (down from $21.00) on shares of Herbalife in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Herbalife presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.00.

Herbalife Stock Up 7.2%

Shares of Herbalife stock opened at $12.33 on Friday. Herbalife has a twelve month low of $7.56 and a twelve month high of $20.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.87.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.03). Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.16%.The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Herbalife will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Herbalife news, insider Frank Lamberti sold 134,982 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.50, for a total transaction of $1,822,257.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,624 shares in the company, valued at $494,424. The trade was a 78.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Troy Hicks sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.32, for a total value of $123,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at $119,577.92. The trade was a 50.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,296 shares of company stock valued at $2,551,678. 5.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herbalife

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Herbalife during the 2nd quarter worth $5,842,000. VectorGlobal IAG Inc. acquired a new stake in Herbalife in the first quarter valued at about $184,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Herbalife in the first quarter valued at about $9,491,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Herbalife by 39.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 37,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 10,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Herbalife by 12.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,366 shares of the company's stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares in the last quarter.

Herbalife Company Profile

Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. NYSE: HLF operates as a global multi-level marketing company specializing in weight-management, nutritional supplement, sports nutrition and personal care products. Its portfolio includes protein shakes, vitamins, energy and fitness supplements, hydration products and skin and hair care items, all formulated to support wellness, performance and healthy living. Products are manufactured in GMP-certified facilities to ensure consistent quality and safety standards.

Founded in 1980 by Mark R.

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