Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on HNST. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Honest from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of Honest in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $3.40 price objective on shares of Honest in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Honest in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Honest in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.47.

Honest Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HNST opened at $3.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $400.69 million, a P/E ratio of -21.41 and a beta of 2.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $3.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.80. Honest has a 52-week low of $2.07 and a 52-week high of $5.55.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01. The company had revenue of $78.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.25 million. Honest had a negative net margin of 5.39% and a positive return on equity of 3.46%. As a group, analysts forecast that Honest will post 0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Honest declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 9.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Honest news, CEO Carla Vernon sold 129,335 shares of Honest stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total value of $368,604.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,065,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,586,806.10. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kunssberg Etienne Von sold 12,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total transaction of $34,710.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 308,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $879,823.50. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,894 shares of company stock worth $546,898. Insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Honest

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HNST. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Honest by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 49,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 3,210 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Honest by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,936,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,103,000 after acquiring an additional 272,765 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Honest by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,064,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,002,000 after acquiring an additional 163,380 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Honest by 183.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 64,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 42,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Honest by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 134,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 20,603 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

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.