Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo lowered Freshpet’s price target from $82 to $77 but maintained an “overweight” rating, implying 27.65% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Freshpet has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $75.75, based on 10 Buy, 8 Hold, and 1 Sell ratings.
• Freshpet’s latest quarter exceeded expectations, with $0.39 in earnings per share versus $0.22 expected and revenue of $305.59 million; however, insiders have sold significantly more shares than they purchased recently.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $77.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would indicate a potential upside of 27.65% from the stock's previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Monday. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Freshpet from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Freshpet from $101.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Freshpet from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freshpet presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.75.

Freshpet Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:FRPT traded up $0.06 on Monday, hitting $60.32. The stock had a trading volume of 88,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,428,114. Freshpet has a 1 year low of $46.45 and a 1 year high of $86.00. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $66.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 5.03 and a current ratio of 6.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.78.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Walter N. George acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.92 per share, with a total value of $64,920.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 51,746 shares in the company, valued at $3,359,350.32. The trade was a 1.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO William B. Cyr sold 41,022 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.86, for a total value of $2,988,862.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 267,152 shares in the company, valued at $19,464,694.72. This represents a 13.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 171,636 shares of company stock worth $12,754,864 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freshpet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Freshpet by 606.8% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 417 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Freshpet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Freshpet during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Freshpet during the 2nd quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Freshpet by 254.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,689 shares of the company's stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.