SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Holdings in Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF)

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF) by 573.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 127,098 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 108,214 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.13% of Herbalife worth $1,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Herbalife by 641.5% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 3,714 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 110.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 5,524 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Herbalife in the 4th quarter valued at $71,000. 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 purchasing an additional 11,323 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Herbalife during the 4th quarter worth $170,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HLF. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson raised Herbalife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $7.50 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Herbalife from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.50.

Herbalife Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of Herbalife stock opened at $7.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $804.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.86. Herbalife Ltd has a 52-week low of $5.04 and a 52-week high of $12.79. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.17.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 23.75% and a net margin of 5.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Herbalife Ltd will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Herbalife news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.75 per share, with a total value of $33,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 166,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,126,284.75. This trade represents a 3.09% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders purchased 13,143 shares of company stock worth $90,973. Company insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

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.