Freshpet’s (FRPT) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

by · The Markets Daily

DA Davidson reissued their buy rating on shares of Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT – Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $80.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on FRPT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Freshpet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $62.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $65.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Freshpet from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $71.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Freshpet from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Freshpet from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Freshpet has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.47.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Freshpet

Freshpet Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:FRPT opened at $81.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $67.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.04. The company has a quick ratio of 4.61, a current ratio of 5.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Freshpet has a 12-month low of $46.76 and a 12-month high of $111.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.72.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $285.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.66 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 12.63%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Freshpet will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Freshpet

In other news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.33, for a total transaction of $320,500.86. Following the sale, the president directly owned 30,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,923,379.14. This represents a 14.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 4.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freshpet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FRPT. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Freshpet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $227,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,705 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Freshpet in the 4th quarter valued at $361,000. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Freshpet in the 4th quarter valued at $9,899,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in Freshpet in the 4th quarter worth $962,000.

Freshpet Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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