Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $75.3125.

Several analysts recently issued reports on FRPT shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Freshpet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Freshpet from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Freshpet news, CEO William B. Cyr sold 41,022 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.86, for a total transaction of $2,988,862.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 267,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,464,694.72. This trade represents a 13.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freshpet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FRPT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Freshpet by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,281,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,822,000 after purchasing an additional 128,499 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 5.2% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 4,141,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,179,000 after purchasing an additional 204,128 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 11.8% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,829,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,291,000 after purchasing an additional 298,460 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Freshpet by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,952,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,982,000 after buying an additional 461,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Freshpet by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,587,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,738,000 after buying an additional 104,913 shares during the last quarter.

Freshpet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRPT opened at $73.96 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.03, a current ratio of 6.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Freshpet has a fifty-two week low of $46.45 and a fifty-two week high of $86.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46 and a beta of 1.61.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $305.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.35 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 17.28%.Freshpet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Freshpet will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Freshpet

Freshpet Inc (NASDAQ: FRPT) is a leading pet food company specializing in fresh, refrigerated meals and treats for dogs and cats. The company’s products are formulated with carefully selected, natural ingredients and are designed to offer a higher level of nutrition and freshness than traditional dry or canned pet foods. Freshpet’s offerings include refrigerated rolls, pâtés and snacks, all of which are sold through the refrigerated section of grocery, mass-market and pet specialty stores.

Freshpet’s product portfolio is built around the concept of fresh, minimally processed recipes that do not require preservatives or artificial colors.