Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Earns “Buy” Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reiterated their buy rating on shares of Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $150.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Freshpet from $113.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Freshpet from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Freshpet from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $143.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Freshpet from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.87.

Freshpet Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of FRPT traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $133.69. 753,844 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 573,772. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.64. Freshpet has a 12-month low of $57.11 and a 12-month high of $145.68. The company has a quick ratio of 3.69, a current ratio of 4.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 267.38 and a beta of 1.39.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $235.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $230.99 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 1.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.35) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Freshpet will post 0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Freshpet

In related news, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 2,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.01, for a total transaction of $304,941.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,046,320.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freshpet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FRPT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Freshpet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,666,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,650,000 after buying an additional 13,709 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Freshpet by 2.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 923,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,492,000 after purchasing an additional 22,759 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 721,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,327,000 after buying an additional 141,615 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Freshpet by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 249,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,852,000 after buying an additional 10,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Freshpet during the 1st quarter worth $17,845,000.

Freshpet Company Profile

Freshpet, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and markets natural fresh meals and treats for dogs and cats in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It sells dog food, cat food, and dog treats under the Freshpet brand name; and Dognation and Dog Joy labels through various classes of retail, including grocery, mass, club, pet specialty, and natural, as well as online.