Impax Asset Management Group plc Purchases 20,000 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 40.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 70,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $5,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FRPT. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Freshpet by 130.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 217 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Freshpet in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Freshpet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 135,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,088,000 after acquiring an additional 2,291 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Freshpet by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Freshpet by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRPT has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Freshpet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $90.00 price target on shares of Freshpet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered shares of Freshpet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $90.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Freshpet currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.00.

Freshpet Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $71.74 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $77.51 and its 200-day moving average is $102.44. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 231.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.79. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $164.07. The company has a quick ratio of 3.92, a current ratio of 4.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $263.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.57 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 1.54% and a return on equity of 3.16%. Freshpet’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

About Freshpet

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.