Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.00.

FRPT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Freshpet from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. DA Davidson set a $98.00 target price on Freshpet in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Freshpet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Freshpet in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Freshpet from $65.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Shares of FRPT opened at $58.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $72.43 and a 200-day moving average of $62.16. Freshpet has a one year low of $46.76 and a one year high of $89.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.54 and a quick ratio of 4.57.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (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 last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. Freshpet’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Freshpet will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FRPT. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $757,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Freshpet by 606.8% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Freshpet by 68.5% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 3,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Freshpet during the 4th quarter worth $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.