Short Interest in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) Grows By 26.8%

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in 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. Currently, 16.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HLF shares. Bank of America cut 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. DA Davidson lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Herbalife from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.50.

Insider Activity at Herbalife

In other news, CEO Michael Johnson acquired 61,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.07 per share, with a total value of $498,120.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 603,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,871,915.49. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Michael Johnson bought 61,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.07 per share, with a total value of $498,120.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 603,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,871,915.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rodica Macadrai acquired 5,175 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.31 per share, with a total value of $48,179.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,385.96. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 85,757 shares of company stock valued at $723,278 in the last three months. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herbalife

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Herbalife in the 3rd quarter worth about $146,000. DGS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Herbalife in the 4th quarter worth about $165,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Herbalife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $184,000. Corton Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 10.2% during the third quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 17,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Herbalife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $258,000.

Herbalife Price Performance

NYSE HLF traded down $0.17 on Tuesday, reaching $8.71. The company had a trading volume of 99,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,179,982. Herbalife has a 1 year low of $6.68 and a 1 year high of $19.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.77 and a 200-day moving average of $11.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $869.17 million, a PE ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 1.22.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.10). Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 2.81%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Herbalife’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Herbalife will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herbalife Company Profile

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.