Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Stock Price

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) had its target price decreased by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $5.50 to $4.25 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 10.97% from the company’s current price.

Separately, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Honest from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Honest presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.96.

Honest Price Performance

NASDAQ HNST opened at $3.83 on Friday. Honest has a fifty-two week low of $3.32 and a fifty-two week high of $8.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $4.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.95. The firm has a market cap of $426.16 million, a P/E ratio of 76.62 and a beta of 2.34.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $93.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.18 million. Honest had a net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 3.84%. On average, equities analysts expect that Honest will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Honest

In other Honest news, insider Dorria L. Ball sold 4,836 shares of Honest stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.32, for a total transaction of $25,727.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 272,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,448,354.04. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jonathan Mayle sold 4,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.32, for a total value of $25,472.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 302,952 shares in the company, valued at $1,611,704.64. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 165,726 shares of company stock valued at $881,662. Corporate insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Honest

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HNST. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its position in Honest by 6,101.8% in the 1st quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 6,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 6,712 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC bought a new position in Honest in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in Honest in the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. Ethos Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Honest in the 2nd quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Honest in the 1st quarter valued at $64,000. 45.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Honest Company Profile

The Honest Company, Inc manufactures and sells diapers and wipes, skin and personal care, and household and wellness products. The company also offers baby clothing and nursery bedding products. It sells its products through digital and retail sales channels, such as its website and third-party ecommerce sites, as well as brick and mortar retailers.