How to buy Herbalife shares

Herbalife Nutrition Ltd is a packaged foods business with stocks listed in the US. Herbalife shares (HLF) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Its last market close was US$55.49 – an increase of 5.55% over the previous week. Here's how to invest if you're based in Australia.

How to buy shares in Herbalife

1. Compare share trading platforms. To buy shares in a US company from Australia you'll need to find a trading platform that offers access to US stock markets. If you're just starting out, look for a platform with low brokerage and foreign exchange fees.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and tax file number. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Herbalife. Find the share by name or ticker symbol: HLF. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Herbalife reaches your desired price. To spread out your risk, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of US$55.49, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimise risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Herbalife, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Herbalife. Optimise your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

Herbalife share price

Use our graph to track the performance of HLF stocks over time.

Herbalife shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2021-06-17.

52-week range	US$41.98 - US$59
50-day moving average	US$51.0209
200-day moving average	US$49.1694
Target price	US$69
PE ratio	13.6687
Dividend yield	N/A (0%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	US$3.737

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The value of your investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no indication of future results.

Is it a good time to buy Herbalife stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Herbalife Nutrition Ltd by TradingView

Herbalife price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the last close of $55.49

1 week (2021-06-15)	6.83%
1 month (2021-05-21)	9.25%
3 months (2021-03-22)	19.85%
6 months (2020-12-22)	17.07%

1 year (2020-06-22)	25.15%
2 years (2019-06-21)	27.24%
3 years (2018-06-22)	2.65%
5 years (2016-06-22)	87.56%

Is Herbalife under- or over-valued?

Valuing Herbalife stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Herbalife's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Herbalife's P/E ratio

Herbalife's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 14x. In other words, Herbalife shares trade at around 14x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Herbalife's EBITDA

Herbalife's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is US$870 million.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Herbalife's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Herbalife financials

Revenue TTM	US$5.8 billion
Operating margin TTM	13.28%
Gross profit TTM	US$2.7 billion
Return on assets TTM	17.83%
Return on equity TTM	0%
Profit margin	8.21%
Book value	-3.783
Market capitalisation	US$5.5 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Herbalife shares

There are currently 5.8 million Herbalife shares held short by investors – that's known as Herbalife's "short interest". This figure is 1.8% down from 6.0 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Herbalife shares can be evaluated.

Herbalife's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Herbalife's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Herbalife shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Herbalife shares traded daily (recently around 1.0 million). Herbalife's SIR currently stands at 5.68. In other words for every 100,000 Herbalife shares traded daily on the market, roughly 5680 shares are currently held short.

However Herbalife's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Herbalife shares, or, against the total number of tradable Herbalife shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Herbalife's short interest could be expressed as 0.05% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Herbalife shares in existence, roughly 50 shares are currently held short) or 0.0672% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Herbalife shares, roughly 67 shares are currently held short).

A SIR below 10% would generally be considered to indicate a fairly optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Herbalife.

Find out more about how you can short Herbalife stock.

Herbalife's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Herbalife.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Herbalife's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 34.41

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Herbalife's overall score of 34.41 (as at 12/31/2018) is pretty weak – landing it in it in the 64th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Herbalife is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Herbalife's environmental score

Environmental score: 14/100

Herbalife's environmental score of 14 puts it squarely in the 3rd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Herbalife is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Herbalife's social score

Social score: 10.25/100

Herbalife's social score of 10.25 puts it squarely in the 3rd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Herbalife is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Herbalife's governance score

Governance score: 8.66/100

Herbalife's governance score puts it squarely in the 3rd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Herbalife is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Herbalife's controversy score

Controversy score: 2/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Herbalife scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that Herbalife has, for the most part, managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Herbalife Nutrition Ltd was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	34.41
Total ESG percentile	63.94
Environmental score	14
Environmental score percentile	3
Social score	10.25
Social score percentile	3
Governance score	8.66
Governance score percentile	3
Level of controversy	2

Herbalife share dividends

We're not expecting Herbalife to pay a dividend over the next 12 months.

Have Herbalife's shares ever split?

Herbalife's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 14 May 2018. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Herbalife shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Herbalife shares which in turn could have impacted Herbalife's share price.

Herbalife share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Herbalife's shares have ranged in value from as little as US$41.98 up to US$59. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Herbalife's is 0.9674. This would suggest that Herbalife's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Herbalife overview

Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. offers nutrition solutions in North America, Mexico, South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides products in the areas of weight management; targeted nutrition; energy, sports, and fitness; and outer nutrition. It offers weight management products, including meal replacement products, protein shakes, drink mixes, weight loss enhancers, and healthy snacks; targeted nutrition products, which include functional beverages, and dietary and nutritional supplements that contain herbs, vitamins, minerals, and other natural ingredients; outer nutrition products, such as facial skin, body, and hair care products; and energy, sports, and fitness products comprising N-R-G tea and energy drink products. The company also provides literature, promotional, and other materials that include start-up kits, sales tools, and educational materials. It offers its products through independent service providers and sales representatives, as well as through company-operated retail platforms. The company was formerly known as Herbalife Ltd. and changed its name to Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. in April 2018. Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Herbalife is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 11.205% of Herbalife shares are held by insiders and 82.644% by institutions.

• When does the fiscal year end for Herbalife?

  Herbalife's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Herbalife based?

  Herbalife's address is: PO Box 80210, Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90080-0210

• What is Herbalife's ISIN number?

  Herbalife's international securities identification number is: KYG4412G1010

• What is Herbalife's CUSIP number?

  Herbalife's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: G4412G101