Fortis Group Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 28,259 Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 28,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,722,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FRPT. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in Freshpet by 41.0% in the 2nd 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. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Freshpet by 151.8% in the third 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 last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in Freshpet in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,862,000. Armistice Capital LLC boosted its stake in Freshpet by 118.4% in the third quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,234,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,050,000 after acquiring an additional 669,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Freshpet by 278.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 859,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,444,000 after acquiring an additional 632,756 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FRPT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Freshpet from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $68.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Freshpet from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $66.00 target price on Freshpet in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freshpet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Walter N. George purchased 2,000 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $54.67 per share, with a total value of $109,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,746 shares in the company, valued at $2,774,283.82. This trade represents a 4.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO William B. Cyr sold 42,693 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.32, for a total transaction of $2,105,618.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 165,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,159,796.72. This represents a 20.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 140,866 shares of company stock worth $6,996,765. Insiders own 4.43% of the company’s stock.

Freshpet Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ FRPT opened at $48.35 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $62.37 and its 200-day moving average is $64.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 1.73. Freshpet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.45 and a twelve month high of $89.80. The company has a quick ratio of 5.26, a current ratio of 6.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $285.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $285.66 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 6.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

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.