Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Raised to Strong-Buy at Texas Capital

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) was upgraded by stock analysts at Texas Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Herbalife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price target (down from $21.00) on shares of Herbalife in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group set a $21.00 price objective on Herbalife in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.67.

Herbalife Stock Performance

Shares of HLF stock opened at $11.89 on Thursday. Herbalife has a 52-week low of $7.56 and a 52-week high of $20.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.42.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last posted 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). Herbalife had a net margin of 3.16% and a negative return on equity of 43.90%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Herbalife will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Herbalife declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, September 8th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 19.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLF. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Herbalife by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 822 shares during the period. Optimize Financial Inc raised its position in shares of Herbalife by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 61,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Herbalife by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 18,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Herbalife by 2.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 96,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 82,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 2,746 shares during the last quarter.

About Herbalife

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.