Curtiss James Bruce III Sells 12,669 Shares of Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Stock

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) CFO Curtiss James Bruce III sold 12,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.14, for a total value of $39,780.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 526,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,132.98. The trade was a 2.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Honest Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HNST opened at $3.41 on Friday. The Honest Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2.07 and a 12 month high of $5.28. The stock has a market cap of $375.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.06 and a beta of 2.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.78.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.01. Honest had a positive return on equity of 3.52% and a negative net margin of 5.39%.The firm had revenue of $78.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.25 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Honest Company, Inc. will post 0.1 EPS for the current year.

Honest announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 9.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HNST shares. Alliance Global Partners reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Honest in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $4.00 target price on shares of Honest in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research raised Honest from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Honest from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $3.40 price target on Honest in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.47.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Honest by 28.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 223,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 49,342 shares in the last quarter. Amicus Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Honest in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Honest in the fourth quarter valued at $86,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Honest in the fourth quarter valued at $448,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Honest by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 186,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 58,784 shares in 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.