Bank of America Corp DE Makes New $715,000 Investment in The Honest Company, Inc. $HNST

Key Points

• Bank of America purchased 195,436 shares of The Honest Company during the second quarter, worth approximately $715,000. Institutional investors collectively own 45.54% of the company.
• Analysts raised several price targets, with estimates ranging from $5.00 to $5.70; however, the consensus rating remains Hold with a $4.84 price target.
• Honest exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.04 in EPS versus the $0.01 estimate and revenue of $80.19 million, above the $77.83 million consensus. Meanwhile, insiders sold 294,149 shares worth about $1.5 million over the past 90 days.

Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 195,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $715,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.18% of Honest at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Honest in the second quarter valued at about $25,662,000. Green Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Honest during the second quarter worth about $1,092,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Honest during the second quarter worth about $328,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Honest during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Honest during the second quarter valued at approximately $94,000. 45.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Honest from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Honest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Honest from $3.40 to $5.70 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Northland Securities set a $5.50 price target on Honest in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Honest news, CEO Carla Vernón sold 117,893 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.99, for a total transaction of $588,286.07. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,828,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,104,504.42. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Dorria L. Ball sold 6,812 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 418,584 shares in the company, valued at $2,088,734.16. The trade was a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 294,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,503,306. Insiders own 9.40% of the company's stock.

Honest Price Performance

HNST stock opened at $5.16 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.99. The Honest Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2.07 and a fifty-two week high of $6.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $568.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.91 and a beta of 2.32.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $80.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $77.83 million. On average, equities analysts expect that The Honest Company, Inc. will post 0.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Honest Company Profile

The Honest Company, Inc develops and sells consumer products focused on baby care, personal care, beauty, and household needs. Its product portfolio includes diapers, wipes, skin care products, bath and body items, personal care products, and household cleaning solutions.

Founded in 2011 by Jessica Alba and Brian Lee, the company was established with an emphasis on product transparency, responsible ingredient selection, and accessible wellness-oriented goods. Honest products are sold through the company's direct-to-consumer platform and through retail partners, primarily serving customers in the United States.

The Honest Company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol HNST.

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