Brokerages Set The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) Target Price at $3.00

Shares of The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two 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 objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.00.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HNST shares. Zacks Research upgraded Honest from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $3.00 price target on shares of Honest in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Honest in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Honest in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $3.00 target price on shares of Honest in a report on Thursday, February 26th.

Honest Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ HNST opened at $2.82 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $2.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.90. Honest has a 52-week low of $2.07 and a 52-week high of $5.55. The firm has a market cap of $317.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.14 and a beta of 2.16.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $88.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.57 million. Honest had a positive return on equity of 4.57% and a negative net margin of 4.22%. Analysts anticipate that Honest will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Honest declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 9.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Honest

In other news, SVP Kunssberg Etienne Von sold 12,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total value of $34,710.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 308,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $879,823.50. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Brendan Sheehey sold 22,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total value of $64,284.60. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 725,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,165.20. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,894 shares of company stock valued at $546,898. Insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Honest

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Portolan Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Honest by 11.4% in the third quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 6,928,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,495,000 after acquiring an additional 710,651 shares in the last quarter. Mak Capital One LLC acquired a new position in Honest during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,104,000. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Honest by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 2,999,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,038,000 after purchasing an additional 151,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Honest by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,323,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,996,000 after purchasing an additional 28,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Honest by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,259,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,315,000 after purchasing an additional 171,425 shares in the last quarter. 45.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.