Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on HNST. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Honest in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Honest from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Alliance Global Partners restated a “buy” rating on shares of Honest in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $3.40 target price on Honest in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $5.50 target price on Honest in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.38.

Honest Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HNST opened at $5.23 on Friday. Honest has a 52 week low of $2.07 and a 52 week high of $5.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $575.72 million, a P/E ratio of -47.55 and a beta of 2.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3.81 and its 200 day moving average is $3.22.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $80.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.83 million. Honest had a negative net margin of 3.56% and a positive return on equity of 4.31%. Equities research analysts forecast that Honest will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Honest

In other Honest news, insider Stephen Winchell sold 12,886 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.14, for a total value of $40,462.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 483,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,517,540.02. This represents a 2.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Carla Vernon sold 119,389 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.14, for a total value of $374,881.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,946,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,391,856.14. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 175,058 shares of company stock valued at $550,591 over the last quarter. 9.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HNST. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Honest by 1,392.2% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 7,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 6,599 shares during the period. Equity Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Honest during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in Honest in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Amicus Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Honest in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Honest during the second quarter valued at $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.