The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Honest Company, with two sell, four hold, two buy, and one strong-buy recommendation. The average 12-month price target is $4.84.
• Honest reported quarterly EPS of $0.04, beating the $0.01 consensus estimate, while revenue of $80.19 million exceeded expectations of $77.83 million.
• HNST shares opened at $5.33, near the upper end of their $2.07–$6.01 12-month range. Insiders sold 294,149 shares worth about $1.5 million in the last quarter, while institutional investors own 45.54% of the company.

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nine analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $4.84.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HNST. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Honest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Alliance Global Partners reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Honest in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Honest from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on Honest from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Honest from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th.

Honest Stock Performance

Shares of HNST stock opened at $5.33 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $4.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.82. Honest has a twelve month low of $2.07 and a twelve month high of $6.01. The company has a market capitalization of $586.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.45 and a beta of 2.24.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. Honest had a positive return on equity of 4.31% and a negative net margin of 3.56%.The company had revenue of $80.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.83 million. On average, analysts forecast that Honest will post 0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dorria L. Ball sold 6,812 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.99, for a total value of $33,991.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 418,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,088,734.16. This trade represents a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jonathan Mayle sold 79,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.22, for a total value of $412,380.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 370,155 shares in the company, valued at $1,932,209.10. This represents a 17.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 294,149 shares of company stock worth $1,503,306. 9.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Honest

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Honest during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,662,000. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Honest by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,014,939 shares of the company's stock worth $2,619,000 after buying an additional 442,542 shares in the last quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Honest during the second quarter worth approximately $1,092,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Honest in the second quarter valued at approximately $715,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Honest in the second quarter valued at approximately $328,000. Institutional investors own 45.54% of the company's stock.

Honest Company Profile

The Honest Company, Inc NASDAQ: HNST is a consumer goods company that develops and sells personal care, beauty, baby, and household products. Its product portfolio includes diapers, wipes, skin care, bath and body products, personal care items, cosmetics, and household cleaning products, with an emphasis on ingredient transparency and product design.

Founded in 2011, the company initially built its business primarily through direct-to-consumer sales and subscription offerings before expanding its retail presence.

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