Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Grows Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Freshpet by 470.8% in the first quarter, owning approximately $3.42 million worth of stock after purchasing an additional 33,900 shares.
• Analysts have mixed views on Freshpet, with ratings ranging from buy to hold, and a notable decrease in target prices from various firms in recent reports.
• Freshpet reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.33, exceeding expectations, alongside a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.5% despite lower revenue than analyst estimates.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Free Report) by 470.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,100 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,900 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.08% of Freshpet worth $3,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FRPT. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 408,633 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,523,000 after purchasing an additional 52,284 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 335,097 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,631,000 after purchasing an additional 33,078 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 810,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,065,000 after purchasing an additional 39,129 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 538.3% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 62,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,194,000 after purchasing an additional 52,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 214,974 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,840,000 after purchasing an additional 51,621 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FRPT shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Freshpet from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. TD Cowen lowered shares of Freshpet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $96.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Freshpet from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. DA Davidson set a $101.00 target price on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Freshpet from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.07.

Freshpet Stock Up 0.4%

Freshpet stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $55.94. 273,362 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,353,521. Freshpet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.27 and a 1 year high of $164.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 4.81 and a quick ratio of 3.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.05.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.21. Freshpet had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 4.82%. The firm had revenue of $264.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $269.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.03) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Freshpet has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freshpet Profile

Freshpet, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and markets natural fresh meals and treats for dogs and cats in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It sells dog food, cat food, and dog treats under the Freshpet brand name; and Dognation and Dog Joy labels through various classes of retail, including grocery, mass, club, pet specialty, and natural, as well as online.