Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Trading 2% Higher – Should You Buy?

Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) shares traded up 2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $88.29 and last traded at $85.48. 334,982 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 1,270,736 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Freshpet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Freshpet from $170.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Freshpet from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Freshpet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.67.

Freshpet Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 94.17 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.57.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.36. Freshpet had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 3.92%. The business had revenue of $262.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.46 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Freshpet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Freshpet in the 4th quarter valued at $817,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 107,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,945,000 after purchasing an additional 28,743 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 835,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,650,000 after purchasing an additional 37,287 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 198.6% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 381,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,065,000 after purchasing an additional 253,679 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 176,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,202,000 after purchasing an additional 30,549 shares during the period.

About Freshpet

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.