Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $6.81, but opened at $7.29. Herbalife shares last traded at $7.66, with a volume of 970,154 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 1.73% and a negative return on equity of 18.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HLF shares. B. Riley decreased their price target on Herbalife from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Herbalife from $13.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Herbalife from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Herbalife currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $7.11 per share, for a total transaction of $71,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $853,200. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLF. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 3.4% in the first quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 9,203,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,495,000 after buying an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 6,653,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,129,000 after acquiring an additional 692,800 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its position in Herbalife by 128.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 5,124,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,879,603 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Herbalife by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,776,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,354,000 after purchasing an additional 500,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Herbalife by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 3,202,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,279,000 after purchasing an additional 323,969 shares in the last quarter.

Herbalife Stock Up 4.1 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $7.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $791.66 million, a PE ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.19.

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.