Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Price Target Cut to $78.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo cut its price target on Freshpet from $90 to $78 but maintained an "overweight" rating, implying about a 21% upside from the prior close.
• Freshpet beat quarterly EPS ($0.64 vs. $0.43 expected) with revenue of $285.23M (+8.6% YoY), and analysts remain broadly positive — consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $75.25 average price target (10 Buys, 7 Holds, 1 Sell).

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $90.00 to $78.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price suggests a potential upside of 21.17% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on FRPT. TD Cowen raised shares of Freshpet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Freshpet from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Freshpet from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Freshpet from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $71.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freshpet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.25.

Freshpet Price Performance

FRPT traded up $1.33 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.37. 1,147,513 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,507,308. Freshpet has a twelve month low of $46.76 and a twelve month high of $89.80. The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.07, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.54 and a quick ratio of 4.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.57.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.21. Freshpet had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $285.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $285.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Freshpet will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Freshpet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the fourth quarter worth $757,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the fourth quarter worth $227,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Freshpet by 606.8% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 417 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Freshpet by 68.5% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,110 shares of the company's stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 3,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Freshpet during the fourth quarter valued at $361,000.

Freshpet Company Profile

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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