The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.42.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HNST shares. Northland Securities raised their target price on Honest from $7.50 to $9.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital cut Honest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $7.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Honest in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Honest Trading Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ HNST opened at $5.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $545.64 million, a PE ratio of -125.25 and a beta of 2.45. Honest has a twelve month low of $2.40 and a twelve month high of $8.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.52.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.01. Honest had a negative return on equity of 3.26% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. The business had revenue of $99.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.46 million. Research analysts predict that Honest will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jonathan Mayle sold 37,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.87, for a total transaction of $182,532.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 307,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,498,693.80. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen Winchell sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.98, for a total value of $99,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 431,844 shares in the company, valued at $2,150,583.12. This trade represents a 4.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Honest

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Honest by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,147,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052,305 shares in the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Honest by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 3,163,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,295,000 after acquiring an additional 191,547 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Honest by 589.7% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,397,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,616,000 after acquiring an additional 2,049,981 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Honest by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,372,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,439,000 after acquiring an additional 398,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Honest by 103.5% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,046,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,185,000 after buying an additional 1,041,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.