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

Shares of The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $3.00.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Honest in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. 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 note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Honest in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Honest from $4.25 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on Honest from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th.

Insider Activity

In other Honest news, CEO Carla Vernon sold 97,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total value of $253,513.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,901,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,543,868.80. The trade was a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen Winchell sold 10,595 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total transaction of $27,547.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 399,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,039,121.20. The trade was a 2.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 8.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Honest

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HNST. Portolan Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Honest by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 6,928,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,495,000 after purchasing an additional 710,651 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in Honest by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,014,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,619,000 after buying an additional 442,542 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Honest by 187.8% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 542,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after buying an additional 353,858 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Honest by 39.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,231,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,531,000 after acquiring an additional 350,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Honest by 16.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,936,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,103,000 after acquiring an additional 272,765 shares in the last quarter. 45.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Honest Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of HNST stock opened at $2.29 on Friday. Honest has a twelve month low of $2.21 and a twelve month high of $6.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $256.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.17 and a beta of 2.30.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $92.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.43 million. Research analysts predict that Honest will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.