Benchmark Boosts Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Price Target to $93.00

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) had its price objective upped by analysts at Benchmark from $90.00 to $93.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Benchmark’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 44.95% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on FRPT. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Oppenheimer raised Freshpet from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Freshpet from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Freshpet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Freshpet from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.88.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Freshpet stock traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $64.16. The company had a trading volume of 280,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,401,669. The company has a quick ratio of 4.57, a current ratio of 5.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $72.67 and a 200-day moving average of $62.09. Freshpet has a 52 week low of $46.76 and a 52 week high of $89.80.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 the consensus estimate of $285.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Freshpet will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freshpet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,281,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,822,000 after buying an additional 128,499 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in Freshpet by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,937,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,900,000 after buying an additional 162,293 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Freshpet by 41.5% in the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,568,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,586,000 after acquiring an additional 753,070 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Freshpet by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,952,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,982,000 after acquiring an additional 461,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in Freshpet by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,587,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,738,000 after acquiring an additional 104,913 shares in 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.