JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Price Target to $66.00

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) had its price objective decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $80.00 to $66.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

FRPT has been the topic of several other research reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. DA Davidson set a $98.00 target price on Freshpet in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Freshpet from $65.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Freshpet from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Freshpet from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freshpet has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Freshpet Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $55.93 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 5.54 and a quick ratio of 4.57. Freshpet has a 1 year low of $46.76 and a 1 year high of $89.80.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.21. Freshpet had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $285.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freshpet will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FRPT. JANA Partners Management LP lifted its stake in Freshpet by 4.1% in the third quarter. JANA Partners Management LP now owns 1,048,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,763,000 after purchasing an additional 41,373 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in Freshpet in the third quarter worth $6,354,000. Western Standard LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the third quarter valued at $3,527,000. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna bought a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the second quarter valued at $1,257,000. Finally, Deepwater Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Freshpet by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Deepwater Asset Management LLC now owns 190,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,487,000 after buying an additional 23,768 shares during the last quarter.

Freshpet Company Profile

Freshpet Inc (NASDAQ: FRPT) is a leading pet food company specializing in fresh, refrigerated meals and treats for dogs and cats. The company’s products are formulated with carefully selected, natural ingredients and are designed to offer a higher level of nutrition and freshness than traditional dry or canned pet foods. Freshpet’s offerings include refrigerated rolls, pâtés and snacks, all of which are sold through the refrigerated section of grocery, mass-market and pet specialty stores.

Freshpet’s product portfolio is built around the concept of fresh, minimally processed recipes that do not require preservatives or artificial colors.