The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.00.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HNST. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Honest from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Lake Street Capital downgraded shares of Honest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $3.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on shares of Honest from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Honest from $4.25 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Honest in a report on Thursday, November 6th.

Honest Stock Performance

Honest stock opened at $2.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $288.42 million, a P/E ratio of 43.00 and a beta of 2.30. Honest has a fifty-two week low of $2.31 and a fifty-two week high of $6.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.61.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.02. Honest had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 1.85%.The company had revenue of $92.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.43 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Honest will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Honest

In related news, insider Stephen Winchell sold 10,595 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total transaction of $27,547.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 399,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,039,121.20. This trade represents a 2.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Carla Vernon sold 97,505 shares of Honest stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total transaction of $253,513.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,901,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,543,868.80. This trade represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Honest

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HNST. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Honest by 122.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 36,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 20,059 shares in the last quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Honest by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 301,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 12,043 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Honest in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Honest by 1,392.2% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 7,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 6,599 shares during the period. Finally, Equity Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Honest in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

About Honest

The Honest Company, Inc (NASDAQ: HNST) is an American consumer goods firm specializing in eco-friendly and responsibly formulated products for babies, personal care, beauty and home cleaning. The company emphasizes transparency in ingredient sourcing and product safety, positioning itself in the premium segment of mass-market retail and direct-to-consumer channels.

Honest was founded in 2011 by actress Jessica Alba and environmental health advocate Christopher Gavigan with a mission to offer parents household and baby care items free from harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrances.