Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Reaches New 52-Week High After Strong Earnings

Shares of The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $4.54 and last traded at $5.5820, with a volume of 343672 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $3.85.

The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $80.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.83 million. Honest had a positive return on equity of 3.52% and a negative net margin of 5.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on HNST. Morgan Stanley set a $3.40 target price on shares of Honest in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $4.00 price target on shares of Honest in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Honest from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Alliance Global Partners restated a “buy” rating on shares of Honest in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Honest in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Honest currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.47.

Insider Activity

In other Honest news, insider Stephen Winchell sold 12,886 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.14, for a total transaction of $40,462.04. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 483,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,517,540.02. This represents a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Carla Vernon sold 119,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.14, for a total transaction of $374,881.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,946,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,391,856.14. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 175,058 shares of company stock valued at $550,591 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HNST. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Honest by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 223,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 49,342 shares during the last quarter. Amicus Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Honest in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Honest in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Honest in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $448,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Honest by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 186,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 58,784 shares during the period. 45.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Honest Trading Up 45.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $618.32 million, a P/E ratio of -33.35 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $3.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.15.

About Honest

The Honest Company, Inc (NASDAQ: HNST) is an American consumer goods firm specializing in eco-friendly and responsibly formulated products for babies, personal care, beauty and home cleaning. The company emphasizes transparency in ingredient sourcing and product safety, positioning itself in the premium segment of mass-market retail and direct-to-consumer channels.

Honest was founded in 2011 by actress Jessica Alba and environmental health advocate Christopher Gavigan with a mission to offer parents household and baby care items free from harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrances.