Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Honest from “Buy” to “Hold.” Analyst views remain mixed, but MarketBeat’s consensus is “Hold” with a $5.42 price target.
• Honest reported quarterly EPS of $0.03 and revenue of $84.61 million, topping analysts’ revenue estimate of $80.79 million.
• Shares opened at $5.01, up 4.4%; company insiders sold about 150,854 shares worth roughly $753,000 during the last quarter.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

HNST has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research raised Honest from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Freedom Capital upgraded Honest from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $5.50 price objective (up from $5.00) on shares of Honest in a report on Friday, November 6th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Honest from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $5.50 target price on shares of Honest in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Honest presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $5.42.

Honest Stock Up 4.4%

Shares of Honest stock opened at $5.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $546.49 million, a PE ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 2.48. Honest has a 52 week low of $2.07 and a 52 week high of $6.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.88.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $84.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.79 million. Honest had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 23.47%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Honest will post 0.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Dorria L. Ball sold 6,812 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.99, for a total value of $33,991.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 418,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,088,734.16. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Carla Vernón sold 117,893 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.99, for a total value of $588,286.07. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,828,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,104,504.42. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 150,854 shares of company stock worth $752,853 in the last quarter. 9.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Honest in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,662,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Honest by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 520,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,672,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439 shares during the last quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Honest by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 387,992 shares of the company's stock worth $1,990,000 after purchasing an additional 89,720 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of Honest during the 3rd quarter worth $798,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Honest during the 2nd quarter worth $715,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.54% of the company's stock.

Honest Company Profile

The Honest Company, founded in 2011 by Jessica Alba and entrepreneur Brian Lee, develops consumer products for families with an emphasis on ingredient transparency and thoughtfully designed everyday essentials. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its products include disposable diapers and wipes, baby and personal-care items, and household cleaning products. Honest sells through its website and retail partners, serving customers primarily in the United States and Canada. Carla Vernón became the company's chief executive officer in 2023.

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