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

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $5.62, but opened at $7.23. Herbalife shares last traded at $7.45, with a volume of 6,189,169 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 5.09% and a negative return on equity of 19.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HLF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Herbalife from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Herbalife from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Herbalife from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 target price on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.90.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Herbalife by 641.5% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,714 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Herbalife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Herbalife by 110.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 5,524 shares during the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new position in Herbalife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Herbalife by 12,307.6% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 11,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 11,323 shares during the last quarter.

Herbalife Trading Up 3.1 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $6.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.24. The firm has a market cap of $833.33 million, a P/E ratio of 3.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.15.

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.