Strs Ohio Takes Position in The Honest Company, Inc. $HNST

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has taken a new position in The Honest Company by purchasing 755,300 shares valued at approximately $3.55 million, representing around 0.69% of the company's total stock.
• Several institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and Victory Capital Management, have significantly increased their stakes in Honest, demonstrating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts have lowered price targets for Honest, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.96.

Strs Ohio purchased a new position in The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 755,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,550,000. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.69% of Honest at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HNST. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Honest in the first quarter worth about $10,554,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Honest by 98.8% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,073,471 shares of the company's stock worth $14,445,000 after buying an additional 1,527,080 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Honest by 103.5% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,046,868 shares of the company's stock worth $14,185,000 after buying an additional 1,041,040 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Honest by 138.2% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 899,726 shares of the company's stock worth $4,229,000 after buying an additional 522,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Honest by 642.4% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 326,011 shares of the company's stock worth $2,259,000 after buying an additional 282,098 shares in the last quarter. 45.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on shares of Honest from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Honest from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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 four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Honest

In other news, insider Stephen Winchell sold 10,841 shares of the business'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 $39,569.65. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 410,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,497,438.05. The trade was a 2.57% 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. Also, General Counsel Brendan Sheehey sold 12,059 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.65, for a total value of $44,015.35. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 568,588 shares in the company, valued at $2,075,346.20. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,890 shares of company stock worth $481,399. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Honest Stock Performance

Shares of HNST stock opened at $4.02 on Monday. The Honest Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.32 and a fifty-two week high of $8.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.64. The company has a market capitalization of $447.31 million, a P/E ratio of 80.42 and a beta of 2.33.

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

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.

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