Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Rating Increased to Buy at Loop Capital

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Loop Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $3.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 3.09% from the company’s previous close.

HNST has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Honest from $1.85 to $4.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Lake Street Capital began coverage on shares of Honest in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of Honest in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4.55.

Honest Trading Up 11.1 %

Honest stock opened at $2.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.15. Honest has a 52 week low of $1.06 and a 52 week high of $4.89. The stock has a market cap of $287.04 million, a PE ratio of -12.65 and a beta of 1.83.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.07. Honest had a negative return on equity of 17.44% and a negative net margin of 6.27%. The firm had revenue of $86.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.79 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Honest will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jessica Warren sold 276,113 shares of Honest stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.07, for a total transaction of $847,666.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,629,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,001,410.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Honest news, insider Jessica Warren sold 276,113 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.07, for a total value of $847,666.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,629,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,001,410.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Carla Vernon sold 43,317 shares of Honest stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.77, for a total value of $119,988.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,881,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,980,563.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 667,088 shares of company stock valued at $1,986,507 over the last 90 days. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Honest

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HNST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Honest by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,851,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,549,000 after buying an additional 268,600 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Honest by 25.3% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 1,078,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 217,721 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Honest in the first quarter valued at about $3,777,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Honest by 973.4% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 430,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after purchasing an additional 390,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Green Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Honest by 1.3% in the first quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 415,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 5,249 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

About Honest

The Honest Company, Inc manufactures and sells diapers and wipes, skin and personal care, and household and wellness products. The company also offers baby clothing and nursery bedding products. It sells its products through digital and retail sales channels, such as its website and third-party ecommerce sites, as well as brick and mortar retailers.