Strs Ohio Acquires Shares of 755,300 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 acquired a new stake in The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 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 reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in Honest in the fourth quarter worth about $1,300,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Honest by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 210,351 shares of the company's stock worth $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 81,227 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in Honest in the fourth quarter worth about $110,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Honest by 63.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 72,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 28,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Honest during the fourth quarter valued at about $553,000. 45.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Honest Price Performance

NASDAQ:HNST traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $3.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,351,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,112,579. The Honest Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.32 and a fifty-two week high of $8.97. The firm's 50 day moving average is $4.18 and its 200-day moving average is $4.61. The firm has a market cap of $436.18 million, a P/E ratio of 78.42 and a beta of 2.32.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HNST. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Honest from $5.50 to $4.25 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective 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. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Honest from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Three investment 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, Honest currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $6.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Carla Vernon sold 99,328 shares of the 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 $362,547.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,998,993 shares in the company, valued at $10,946,324.45. This trade represents a 3.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Brendan Sheehey sold 12,059 shares of the 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 owned 568,588 shares in the company, valued at $2,075,346.20. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 131,890 shares of company stock worth $481,399 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

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.