Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts' consensus: Eighteen analysts rate Freshpet a "Moderate Buy" (1 sell, 7 hold, 10 buy) with an average 1‑year target of about $75.94.
• Recent analyst moves are mixed: Wells Fargo and JPMorgan trimmed price targets to $78 and $66 respectively, while Oppenheimer and TD Cowen upgraded Freshpet toward outperform/buy with $80 targets, and Weiss moved its rating from sell to hold.
• Fundamentals and ownership: Freshpet posted an EPS beat ($0.64 vs. $0.43) with revenue roughly in line at $285.23M (+8.6% YoY), and major institutions including Vanguard, Wasatch, William Blair, Capital World and Armistice increased their stakes.

Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $75.9375.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Freshpet from $90.00 to $78.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Freshpet from $80.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer raised Freshpet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. TD Cowen raised Freshpet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Freshpet from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Freshpet by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,281,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $321,822,000 after acquiring an additional 128,499 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in Freshpet by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,937,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $239,900,000 after acquiring an additional 162,293 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Freshpet by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,952,767 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,982,000 after acquiring an additional 461,444 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Freshpet by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,587,691 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,738,000 after acquiring an additional 104,913 shares during the period. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC grew its stake in Freshpet by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,296,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,965,000 after acquiring an additional 61,198 shares during the period.

Freshpet Stock Up 5.3%

Shares of Freshpet stock opened at $68.25 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.57, a current ratio of 5.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Freshpet has a 12 month low of $46.76 and a 12 month high of $89.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56 and a beta of 1.78.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.21. Freshpet had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 12.63%.The business had revenue of $285.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $285.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Freshpet will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

About Freshpet

Freshpet Inc NASDAQ: FRPT is a leading pet food company specializing in fresh, refrigerated meals and treats for dogs and cats. The company's products are formulated with carefully selected, natural ingredients and are designed to offer a higher level of nutrition and freshness than traditional dry or canned pet foods. Freshpet's offerings include refrigerated rolls, pâtés and snacks, all of which are sold through the refrigerated section of grocery, mass-market and pet specialty stores.

Freshpet's product portfolio is built around the concept of fresh, minimally processed recipes that do not require preservatives or artificial colors.

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