Long-Time Bull on Herbalife Could Soon Be Advising Fourth-Largest Shareholder

Herbalife 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' 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.