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

Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $163.36.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Freshpet from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Freshpet from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freshpet news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total value of $384,625.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.13, for a total transaction of $790,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 122,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,351,949.40. This represents a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,962,175. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freshpet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Freshpet in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Freshpet during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Freshpet by 3,670.0% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Freshpet in the second quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Freshpet during the 3rd quarter worth about $54,000.

Freshpet Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $146.36 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $147.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.39. Freshpet has a 52-week low of $82.16 and a 52-week high of $160.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 4.72 and a quick ratio of 3.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 164.45 and a beta of 1.41.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.10. Freshpet had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 3.67%. The business had revenue of $253.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.15) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Freshpet will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Freshpet Company Profile

Freshpet, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and markets natural fresh meals and treats for dogs and cats in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It sells dog food, cat food, and dog treats under the Freshpet brand name; and Dognation and Dog Joy labels through various classes of retail, including grocery, mass, club, pet specialty, and natural, as well as online.