Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Honest in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Honest in a report on Friday, January 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $3.00 price objective on shares of Honest in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $3.00 price objective on Honest in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Honest from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Honest currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $3.00.

Honest Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HNST opened at $2.88 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $323.91 million, a PE ratio of -20.57 and a beta of 2.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.93. Honest has a fifty-two week low of $2.07 and a fifty-two 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 (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $88.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.57 million. Research analysts predict that Honest will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Honest declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 9.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Honest

In other Honest news, CEO Carla Vernon sold 129,335 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total value of $368,604.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,065,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,586,806.10. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dorria L. Ball sold 15,099 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 transaction of $43,032.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 432,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,232,040.75. This trade represents a 3.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 191,894 shares of company stock valued at $546,898 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Honest

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mak Capital One LLC acquired a new position in Honest during the fourth quarter worth $9,104,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings 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 increased its position in shares of Honest by 11.4% during the third quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 6,928,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,495,000 after acquiring an additional 710,651 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Honest by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,520,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,922,000 after acquiring an additional 627,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Honest by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,014,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,619,000 after acquiring an additional 442,542 shares during the last quarter. 45.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.