Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) General Counsel Sells $64,284.60 in Stock

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) General Counsel Brendan Sheehey sold 22,556 shares of Honest stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total value of $64,284.60. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 725,672 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,165.20. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Honest Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HNST traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $2.81. 2,349,221 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,034,835. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.04. The company has a market cap of $316.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.07 and a beta of 2.27. The Honest Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2.07 and a 52 week high of $5.55.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.23). Honest had a positive return on equity of 4.57% and a negative net margin of 4.22%.The company had revenue of $88.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.57 million. As a group, analysts expect that The Honest Company, Inc. will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Honest announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 9.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Honest in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Honest from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Honest in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered Honest from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $3.00 target price on Honest in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $3.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Honest

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HNST. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Honest by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 49,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 3,210 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Honest by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,936,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,103,000 after purchasing an additional 272,765 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Honest by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,064,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,002,000 after buying an additional 163,380 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Honest in the second quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Honest by 10.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,068,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,532,000 after acquiring an additional 196,218 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

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.