Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $122.00.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freshpet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Freshpet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $96.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Freshpet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Institutional Trading of Freshpet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 12.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,223,695 shares of the company's stock worth $434,455,000 after buying an additional 571,139 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 8.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,616,205 shares of the company's stock worth $217,590,000 after buying an additional 196,882 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $151,027,000 after buying an additional 158,416 shares during the last quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 18.0% in the first quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,026,829 shares of the company's stock worth $85,401,000 after buying an additional 156,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 844,744 shares of the company's stock worth $127,446,000 after buying an additional 9,081 shares during the last quarter.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Freshpet stock opened at $71.92 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $79.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.56. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 232.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 4.91 and a quick ratio of 3.92. Freshpet has a fifty-two week low of $70.89 and a fifty-two week high of $164.07.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $263.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $265.57 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.16% and a net margin of 1.54%. The business's revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freshpet will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Freshpet Company 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.

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