Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Shares Up 4.2% – Still a Buy?

Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)’s share price traded up 4.2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $61.75 and last traded at $61.48. 165,682 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 1,480,996 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Freshpet from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $71.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Freshpet from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. DA Davidson set a $98.00 price target on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Freshpet from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Freshpet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freshpet presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.00.

Freshpet Trading Up 6.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.49. 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 (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $285.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $285.66 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freshpet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 41.0% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,839,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,921,000 after buying an additional 1,116,217 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Freshpet by 1,031.9% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 931,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,905 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Freshpet by 151.8% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,482,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,716,000 after acquiring an additional 893,949 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,862,000. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Freshpet by 118.4% during the 3rd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,234,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,050,000 after purchasing an additional 669,399 shares during the period.

About Freshpet

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.