Brokerages Set Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Target Price at $81.50

Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $81.50.

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group set a $48.00 target price on Freshpet and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Freshpet from $100.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Freshpet from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Freshpet from $101.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Shares of Freshpet stock opened at $69.70 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.61, a current ratio of 5.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Freshpet has a 12 month low of $46.76 and a 12 month high of $163.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.57. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.71.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $1.43. The business had revenue of $288.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.73 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 5.73%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freshpet will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Freshpet news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.33, for a total value of $320,500.86. Following the sale, the president directly owned 30,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,923,379.14. This represents a 14.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freshpet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in Freshpet during the 2nd quarter worth $648,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in Freshpet by 20.4% in the second quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 75,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,110,000 after buying an additional 12,764 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,005,000. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna bought a new position in shares of Freshpet during the second quarter worth $1,257,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Freshpet by 146.3% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 22,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,545,000 after acquiring an additional 13,506 shares in the last quarter.

Freshpet Company Profile

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.