Templeton & Phillips Capital Management LLC Makes New $570,000 Investment in The Honest Company, Inc. $HNST

Templeton & Phillips Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 112,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,000. Honest makes up 0.4% of Templeton & Phillips Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Templeton & Phillips Capital Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Honest as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strategic Blueprint LLC bought a new stake in Honest in the second quarter worth about $52,000. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Honest by 5.1% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 76,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 3,730 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Honest by 18.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,064,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,002,000 after acquiring an additional 163,380 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in Honest by 24.9% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 52,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 10,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Honest by 3.8% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 114,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 4,144 shares in the last quarter. 45.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HNST has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Honest from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on shares of Honest from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Honest from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Honest from $5.50 to $4.25 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Carla Vernon sold 99,328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.65, for a total value of $362,547.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,998,993 shares in the company, valued at $10,946,324.45. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Brendan Sheehey sold 12,059 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 value of $44,015.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 568,588 shares in the company, valued at $2,075,346.20. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 131,890 shares of company stock worth $481,399 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Honest Trading Down 3.9%

NASDAQ HNST opened at $3.46 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.39. The company has a market cap of $384.99 million, a PE ratio of 69.21 and a beta of 2.29. The Honest Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.44 and a 1 year high of $8.97.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $93.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.18 million. Honest had a return on equity of 3.84% and a net margin of 1.66%. Research analysts forecast that The Honest Company, Inc. will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Honest

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.