The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) Receives Average Rating of "Reduce" from Analysts

Key Points

• The Honest Company has a consensus analyst rating of Reduce from seven firms (2 sell, 4 hold, 1 buy) and an average 12‑month price target of $3.00.
• Insiders have sold a total of 191,894 shares valued at about $546,898 over the last 90 days, with insiders now owning 8.90% of the company.
• The Board approved a $25 million share repurchase program to buy up to 9.9% of outstanding shares, signaling management believes the stock may be undervalued.

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.00.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HNST shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Honest from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Honest from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Honest in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $3.00 target price on shares of Honest in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $3.00 target price on shares of Honest in a report on Thursday, February 26th.

Insider Transactions at Honest

In other Honest news, SVP Jonathan Mayle sold 12,725 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total value of $36,266.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 455,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,297,864.35. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kunssberg Etienne Von sold 12,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total transaction of $34,710.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 308,710 shares in the company, valued at $879,823.50. This represents a 3.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 191,894 shares of company stock valued at $546,898 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Honest

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HNST. Mak Capital One LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Honest in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,104,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Honest by 796.2% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,006,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,742 shares during the period. Portolan Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Honest by 11.4% in the third quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 6,928,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,495,000 after purchasing an additional 710,651 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Honest by 70.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,520,331 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,922,000 after purchasing an additional 627,537 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Honest by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,014,939 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,619,000 after purchasing an additional 442,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.54% of the company's stock.

Honest Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HNST opened at $3.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $393.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.00 and a beta of 2.16. Honest has a one year low of $2.07 and a one year high of $5.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.82.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $88.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.57 million. Honest had a positive return on equity of 4.57% and a negative net margin of 4.22%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Honest will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Honest declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 9.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Honest Company Profile

The Honest Company, Inc NASDAQ: HNST is an American consumer goods firm specializing in eco-friendly and responsibly formulated products for babies, personal care, beauty and home cleaning. The company emphasizes transparency in ingredient sourcing and product safety, positioning itself in the premium segment of mass-market retail and direct-to-consumer channels.

Honest was founded in 2011 by actress Jessica Alba and environmental health advocate Christopher Gavigan with a mission to offer parents household and baby care items free from harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrances.

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