Panagora Asset Management Inc. Purchases 170,642 Shares of The Honest Company, Inc. $HNST

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. significantly increased its stock position in The Honest Company by 79%, holding 386,719 shares valued at approximately $1.8 million.
• Analyst ratings for The Honest Company suggest a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $6.96, although some analysts have recently lowered their price objectives.
• The Honest Company reported Q2 earnings with an EPS of $0.03, missing estimates, while revenue slightly exceeded expectations at $93.46 million.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST - Free Report) by 79.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 386,719 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 170,642 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.35% of Honest worth $1,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Honest by 11,727.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,258 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 4,222 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its position in Honest by 6,101.8% during the first quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 6,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 6,712 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Honest during the first quarter valued at $64,000. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Honest during the fourth quarter valued at $110,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in Honest during the first quarter valued at $78,000. Institutional investors own 45.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on HNST. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on Honest from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Honest from $5.50 to $4.25 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $6.96.

Honest Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HNST traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $4.01. The stock had a trading volume of 2,458,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,593,882. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4.38 and a 200-day moving average of $4.71. The company has a market capitalization of $446.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.22 and a beta of 2.32. The Honest Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.32 and a 12-month high of $8.97.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.02). Honest had a return on equity of 3.84% and a net margin of 1.66%.The business had revenue of $93.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $92.18 million. As a group, analysts forecast that The Honest Company, Inc. will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Honest

In other Honest news, General Counsel Brendan Sheehey sold 12,059 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.65, for a total transaction of $44,015.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 568,588 shares in the company, valued at $2,075,346.20. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stephen Winchell sold 10,841 shares of Honest stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.65, for a total transaction of $39,569.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 410,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,497,438.05. The trade was a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,890 shares of company stock worth $481,399 in the last quarter. 8.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Honest

The Honest Company, Inc manufactures and sells diapers and wipes, skin and personal care, and household and wellness products. The company also offers baby clothing and nursery bedding products. It sells its products through digital and retail sales channels, such as its website and third-party ecommerce sites, as well as brick and mortar retailers.