Courtesy of Benzinga.
Herbalife (NYSE: HLF) shares finished the day on a strong note Monday afternoon, pushing from $61 around 12PM EST to close up more than 6 percent at $64.06. Investors in the name were responding to a rumor suggesting a bullish sell-side analyst has left his firm in order to advise a possible suitor for Herbalife.
According to a tweet from Fox Business News’ Charlie Gasparino earlier, DA Davidson’s Timothy Ramey has left the firm in order to work with Post Holdings’ (NYSE: POST) Chairman and CEO Bill Stiritz.
FBN NEWS: $HLF bull Tim Ramey leaves DA Davidson–confirmed; RUMOR: he's joining Bill Stiritz, who has said he wants to buy $HLF
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) January 27, 2014
Now a few disclaimers which make the rumor a lot more interesting:
- in November of 2013, Stiritz disclosed a raised position in Herbalife (from 5.31 percent as of August 26th to 6.38 percent) and also announced he would consider getting involved in a leveraged buyout of Herbalife, and
- Ramey’s coverage on Herbalife at DA Davidson with a Buy rating and $115 price target placed him as the most bullish analyst on the Street.
Although the move higher in Herbalife shares Monday afternoon comes on the heels of a recent 20-plus percent decline since the beginning of 2014, investors in the stock are clearly cheering the possibility a fan of the company could soon be advising one of the largest shareholders.
Posted-In: Analyst Color News Rumors Hot Analyst Ratings Movers
