USANA Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of USANA Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on USNA. Wall Street Zen upgraded USANA Health Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of USANA Health Sciences in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, USANA Health Sciences has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

USANA Health Sciences Stock Performance

USNA opened at $19.44 on Wednesday. USANA Health Sciences has a one year low of $16.60 and a one year high of $38.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.79 million, a PE ratio of 35.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $18.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.90.

USANA Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.19. USANA Health Sciences had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 1.16%.The firm had revenue of $226.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.96 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that USANA Health Sciences will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other USANA Health Sciences news, insider Joshua Foukas sold 4,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.34, for a total transaction of $95,197.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USNA. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in USANA Health Sciences by 82.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 9,894 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in USANA Health Sciences during the first quarter worth $687,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of USANA Health Sciences by 31.4% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 13,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 3,198 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of USANA Health Sciences by 19.5% during the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of USANA Health Sciences during the second quarter worth $422,000. 54.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

USANA Health Sciences Company Profile

USANA Health Sciences, Inc is a Utah‐based company that develops, manufactures and distributes nutritional supplements and personal care products through a network of independent distributors. Founded in 1992 by Dr. Myron Wentz, the company’s portfolio includes vitamins, minerals, dietary supplements, weight‐management products and skin‐care formulations. USANA’s products are formulated in its own laboratories to meet pharmaceutical‐grade standards, and the company has invested heavily in research and development and quality control to support its offerings.

Operating primarily through a direct selling model, USANA serves markets in North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America.