Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Increases 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 grew its holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Free Report) by 470.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,100 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,900 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.08% of Freshpet worth $3,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FRPT. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Freshpet during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 9.6% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,815,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $151,027,000 after purchasing an additional 158,416 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its stake in shares of Freshpet by 4.4% in the first quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 34,507 shares of the company's stock worth $2,870,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in Freshpet by 268.6% in the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 13,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,113,000 after acquiring an additional 9,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,650 shares of the company's stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period.

Freshpet Price Performance

Shares of FRPT traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $55.79. 991,255 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,355,146. Freshpet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.27 and a fifty-two week high of $164.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 82.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a quick ratio of 3.75, a current ratio of 4.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $264.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.75 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 4.82% and a net margin of 3.23%.The business's revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. Freshpet has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FRPT. Zacks Research raised shares of Freshpet from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. DA Davidson set a $101.00 price objective on Freshpet in a report on Thursday, August 7th. TD Cowen lowered Freshpet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $96.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $90.00 price target on Freshpet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Freshpet from $65.00 to $48.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.07.

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.