Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after Argus upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $11.83, but opened at $12.49. Herbalife shares last traded at $12.6350, with a volume of 510,635 shares.

HLF has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.33.

Insider Activity

In other Herbalife news, Director Lynda Cloud acquired 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.97 per share, with a total value of $152,490.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 38,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,547.29. This trade represents a 77.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLF. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 10.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,495,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,835,000 after buying an additional 1,223,957 shares during the period. Fund 1 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Herbalife in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,491,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Herbalife by 6,837.9% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 889,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,676,000 after acquiring an additional 902,600 shares during the last quarter. Tenzing Global Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Herbalife during the 1st quarter worth $6,904,000. Finally, Manatuck Hill Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 122.2% during the third quarter. Manatuck Hill Partners LLC now owns 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,440,000 after purchasing an additional 550,000 shares during the last quarter.

Herbalife Stock Up 11.0%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.95 and a 200 day moving average of $8.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.87.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 6.59% and a negative return on equity of 27.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. Herbalife has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Herbalife Ltd will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.