Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Given New $70.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 6.12% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Freshpet from $80.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer raised 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. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Freshpet from $84.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freshpet in a report on Monday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freshpet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.44.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRPT traded up $1.13 on Wednesday, hitting $65.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 928,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,467,800. Freshpet has a 12 month low of $46.76 and a 12 month high of $89.80. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67 and a beta of 1.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $70.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 4.57 and a current ratio of 5.54.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.21. Freshpet had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 12.63%.The company had revenue of $285.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $285.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Freshpet will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Freshpet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,281,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,822,000 after buying an additional 128,499 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 5.2% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 4,141,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,179,000 after buying an additional 204,128 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,952,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,982,000 after buying an additional 461,444 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,587,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,738,000 after buying an additional 104,913 shares during the period. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,296,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,965,000 after purchasing an additional 61,198 shares during the last quarter.

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.