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

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

FRPT has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Freshpet from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Freshpet from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Freshpet from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Freshpet Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $156.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.47. Freshpet has a 12 month low of $83.77 and a 12 month high of $160.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 176.36 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.13, for a total value of $790,650.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 122,380 shares in the company, valued at $19,351,949.40. The trade was a 3.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total transaction of $384,625.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,500 shares of company stock worth $1,962,175. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 749.7% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,771,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,445,199 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Freshpet by 391.5% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 234,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,090,000 after acquiring an additional 186,889 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Freshpet by 54.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 439,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,135,000 after acquiring an additional 154,909 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 24.4% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 721,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,327,000 after acquiring an additional 141,615 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the second quarter worth about $8,902,000.

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.