Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $75.75 According to Brokerages

Key Points

• Freshpet has a consensus “Hold” rating among 19 analysts, with 10 buys, 8 holds and 1 sell. The average 12-month price target is $75.75, above the reported share price of $61.33.
• The company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.39 versus the $0.22 consensus estimate and revenue of $305.59 million, up 15.4% year over year.
• Insider activity was mixed: the CEO sold 2,657 shares, while a director bought 1,000 shares. Overall, insiders sold 171,636 shares worth about $12.75 million over the past three months.

Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $75.75.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FRPT shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Freshpet from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Freshpet in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Freshpet from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 2nd. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Freshpet in a report on Wednesday, August 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freshpet

In other Freshpet news, CEO William Cyr sold 2,657 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.40, for a total transaction of $200,337.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,697,917.60. This represents a 5.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Walter George acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.92 per share, for a total transaction of $64,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 51,746 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,359,350.32. This represents a 1.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 171,636 shares of company stock valued at $12,754,864. 4.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freshpet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRPT. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 1.8% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 39,313 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its position in shares of Freshpet by 456.0% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 116,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,906,000 after acquiring an additional 95,806 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 6.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 16,944 shares of the company's stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the second quarter worth approximately $840,000.

Freshpet Stock Performance

FRPT opened at $61.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 6.05 and a quick ratio of 5.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $66.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.36. Freshpet has a 1 year low of $46.45 and a 1 year high of $86.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14 and a beta of 1.78.

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

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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