Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) Short Interest Update

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,300,000 shares, an increase of 26.8% from the March 31st total of 12,070,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.2 days. Currently, 16.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other Herbalife news, EVP Henry C. Wang purchased 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.30 per share, with a total value of $25,835.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,604.20. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Rodica Macadrai purchased 5,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.31 per share, for a total transaction of $48,179.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 12,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $118,385.96. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Henry C. Wang purchased 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.30 per share, for a total transaction of $25,835.40. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 176,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,604.20. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 85,757 shares of company stock valued at $723,278. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Herbalife

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLF. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Herbalife by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,561,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,759,000 after acquiring an additional 43,452 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in Herbalife by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,989,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,808,000 after purchasing an additional 209,949 shares during the last quarter. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. raised its holdings in Herbalife by 3.5% in the third quarter. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. now owns 3,121,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,669,000 after buying an additional 104,567 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,888,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,814,000 after buying an additional 145,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,624,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,788,000 after buying an additional 116,030 shares during the last quarter.

Herbalife Price Performance

HLF stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.65. The stock had a trading volume of 1,505,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,196,692. The firm has a market cap of $863.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $8.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.68. Herbalife has a 52-week low of $6.68 and a 52-week high of $19.48.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.10). Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 2.81%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Herbalife will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Herbalife from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America dropped their price target on Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.50.

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.