Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,660,000 shares, a decline of 8.0% from the May 31st total of 14,840,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.8 days. Approximately 14.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HLF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 19th. Mizuho upped their target price on Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.50 target price on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Herbalife

In other news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.67 per share, for a total transaction of $29,010.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 73,279 shares in the company, valued at $708,607.93. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.67 per share, for a total transaction of $29,010.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 73,279 shares in the company, valued at $708,607.93. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Donal L. Mulligan purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $289,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 60,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $579,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 42,500 shares of company stock worth $418,485. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herbalife

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Herbalife by 523.6% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 177,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,705,000 after acquiring an additional 148,851 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Herbalife by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,624,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,788,000 after acquiring an additional 116,030 shares during the last quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT increased its stake in Herbalife by 49.1% during the fourth quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 1,468,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,411,000 after acquiring an additional 483,635 shares during the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Herbalife during the fourth quarter worth $5,799,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in Herbalife during the first quarter worth $4,013,000.

Herbalife Price Performance

HLF stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $11.36. 1,173,590 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,215,335. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.20 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $10.59 and its 200 day moving average is $10.75. Herbalife has a 12-month low of $6.68 and a 12-month high of $19.48.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 2.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Herbalife will post 1.48 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.