Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $3.00 target price on shares of Honest in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $3.00 price target on shares of Honest in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research downgraded Honest from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Honest in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Honest in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $3.00.

Honest Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Honest stock opened at $2.93 on Friday. Honest has a 12-month low of $2.07 and a 12-month high of $5.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $329.54 million, a P/E ratio of -20.93 and a beta of 2.26.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last released 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). Honest had a negative net margin of 4.22% and a positive return on equity of 4.57%. The firm had revenue of $88.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.57 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Honest will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Honest declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 9.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Honest

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mak Capital One LLC acquired a new stake in Honest in the 4th quarter worth $9,104,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Honest by 796.2% during 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 buying an additional 1,782,742 shares during the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 710,651 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 627,537 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in Honest by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,014,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,619,000 after buying an additional 442,542 shares in the last quarter. 45.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Honest

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.