Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $157.80.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FRPT. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

Freshpet Stock Down 0.1 %

FRPT stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $153.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 186,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 578,924. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Freshpet has a 52-week low of $69.37 and a 52-week high of $160.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 171.97 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.70.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $253.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $248.36 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 3.67%. The firm's revenue was up 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.15) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Freshpet will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freshpet

In other news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.13, for a total transaction of $790,650.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 122,380 shares in the company, valued at $19,351,949.40. The trade was a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 three months, insiders have sold 9,678 shares of company stock worth $1,480,217. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FRPT. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in Freshpet by 749.7% during the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,771,377 shares of the company's stock worth $376,187,000 after buying an additional 2,445,199 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 391.5% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 234,626 shares of the company's stock worth $32,090,000 after acquiring an additional 186,889 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Freshpet by 54.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 439,681 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,135,000 after purchasing an additional 154,909 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Freshpet by 24.4% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 721,288 shares of the company's stock worth $93,327,000 after purchasing an additional 141,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Freshpet during the second quarter worth $8,892,000.

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.