TD Cowen Has Lowered Expectations for Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Stock Price

Key Points

• TD Cowen lowered Freshpet’s price target from $85 to $80 while maintaining a “buy” rating, implying approximately 20.6% upside from the stock’s $66.34 trading price.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Freshpet has an average “hold” rating and a consensus price target of $75.44, despite 10 buy ratings, eight holds, and one sell rating.
• Freshpet reported quarterly EPS of $0.39, exceeding the $0.22 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 15.4% year over year to $305.59 million.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at TD Cowen from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. TD Cowen's target price points to a potential upside of 20.59% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Freshpet from $101.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $72.00 target price (down from $77.00) on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Freshpet from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.44.

Freshpet Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ FRPT traded up $1.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $66.34. The stock had a trading volume of 249,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,421,843. Freshpet has a 52-week low of $46.45 and a 52-week high of $86.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46 and a beta of 1.78. The business's fifty day moving average price is $66.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.39. The company has a current ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 5.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $305.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.35 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 17.28% and a return on equity of 5.97%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Freshpet will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Freshpet

In other Freshpet news, CEO William Cyr sold 41,022 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.86, for a total transaction of $2,988,862.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 267,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,464,694.72. This trade represents a 13.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Walter George acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $64.92 per share, with a total value of $64,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 51,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,359,350.32. This trade represents a 1.97% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 171,636 shares of company stock worth $12,754,864. 4.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freshpet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRPT. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Freshpet by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Freshpet by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 39,313 shares of the company's stock worth $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its position in Freshpet by 456.0% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 116,816 shares of the company's stock worth $6,906,000 after acquiring an additional 95,806 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Freshpet during the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in Freshpet by 6.2% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 16,944 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares in the last quarter.

About Freshpet

Freshpet, Inc NASDAQ: FRPT is a pet food company that develops, manufactures and markets refrigerated, fresh food and treats for dogs and cats. Its products are made with ingredients such as meat, poultry, fish, vegetables and other components, and are kept refrigerated throughout distribution and retail.

The company sells fresh meals, rolls, treats and other pet nutrition products under the Freshpet brand and related product lines. Its offerings are marketed through grocery stores, mass merchants, club stores, pet specialty retailers, e-commerce platforms and other retail channels.

Freshpet was founded in 2006 and is based in Secaucus, New Jersey.

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