Auriga Maintains a 'Buy' on Herbalife (HLF); Spark From Additional Licenses in China

Auriga maintains a 'Buy' on Herbalife (NYSE: HLF) price target of $68.00.

Analyst, Gary Albanese, said, "Earlier this week, Herbalife announced that it received eight additional licenses to conduct direct selling operations in China. The company now has direct selling licenses in 24 provinces and also operated 68 retail stores in 29 provinces as of March 31. China should continue to be an Area of Growth. In 2011, revenue in China grew 14.3%. In the first quarter, year/year revenue growth accelerated to 24.6%. Last year, China only represented 6% of revenue but the potential exists to expand this contribution as its presence grows through additional distributors and sales leaders. In 1Q12, China sales leaders grew 31% to 9,531 and, at year-end 2011, the company had 171,000 Chinese sales representatives, sales officers, and independent service providers. Compared to the company's 2.7 million distributors, China is currently a relatively modest market for Herbalife but one that is potentially very significant with a population over 1.3 billion people."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Herbalife click here. For more ratings news on Herbalife click here.

Shares of Herbalife closed at $45.03 yesterday.

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