Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

HNST has been the subject of several other research reports. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price objective on Honest from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Honest from $5.50 to $4.25 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Honest in a research note on Thursday. Lake Street Capital lowered shares of Honest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $3.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Honest from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.96.

Honest Trading Up 14.2%

HNST opened at $2.66 on Thursday. Honest has a 12-month low of $2.31 and a 12-month high of $8.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.98 million, a PE ratio of 44.33 and a beta of 2.28.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.02. Honest had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 3.92%. The business had revenue of $92.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.43 million. Honest has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Honest will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Stephen Winchell sold 10,841 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.65, for a total transaction of $39,569.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 410,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,497,438.05. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Brendan Sheehey sold 12,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.65, for a total transaction of $44,015.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 568,588 shares in the company, valued at $2,075,346.20. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 131,890 shares of company stock valued at $481,399 in the last 90 days. 8.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Honest

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Honest by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,208,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,481,000 after buying an additional 61,299 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Honest by 98.8% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,073,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,445,000 after acquiring an additional 1,527,080 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Honest in the first quarter valued at $10,554,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Honest by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,068,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,532,000 after purchasing an additional 196,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Honest by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,936,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,103,000 after purchasing an additional 272,765 shares during the period. 45.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Honest Company Profile

The Honest Company, Inc manufactures and sells diapers and wipes, skin and personal care, and household and wellness products. The company also offers baby clothing and nursery bedding products. It sells its products through digital and retail sales channels, such as its website and third-party ecommerce sites, as well as brick and mortar retailers.