The Hain Celestial Group (NASDAQ:HAIN) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of The Hain Celestial Group (NASDAQ:HAIN) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of The Hain Celestial Group from $2.50 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of The Hain Celestial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of The Hain Celestial Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Stephens downgraded The Hain Celestial Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $3.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on The Hain Celestial Group from $2.00 to $1.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Hain Celestial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $2.76.

The Hain Celestial Group Trading Up 4.3%

NASDAQ:HAIN opened at $1.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $109.59 million, a P/E ratio of -0.20 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.46. The Hain Celestial Group has a 12-month low of $1.00 and a 12-month high of $5.66.

The Hain Celestial Group (NASDAQ:HAIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.04). The Hain Celestial Group had a positive return on equity of 0.77% and a negative net margin of 34.69%.The company had revenue of $367.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.09 million. Equities analysts anticipate that The Hain Celestial Group will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Hain Celestial Group news, Director Carlyn R. Taylor sold 53,957 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.17, for a total value of $63,129.69. Following the sale, the director owned 264,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,117.51. This represents a 16.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HAIN. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in The Hain Celestial Group by 295.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,731,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,637,000 after acquiring an additional 3,535,073 shares during the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Hain Celestial Group in the second quarter valued at about $4,560,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of The Hain Celestial Group by 7,269.0% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,087,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,197 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of The Hain Celestial Group by 151.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,066,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,424,000 after purchasing an additional 641,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Hain Celestial Group by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,029,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,107,000 after purchasing an additional 517,777 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

About The Hain Celestial Group

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc (NASDAQ: HAIN) is a leading global producer and marketer of natural and organic branded products. The company operates through two principal segments—Grocery and Personal Care—offering a diversified portfolio that spans shelf-stable foods, snacks, beverages, condiments and natural personal care items. Its product lineup addresses growing consumer demand for clean-label, plant-based and ethically sourced offerings in everyday categories.

Within its Grocery segment, Hain Celestial markets well-known brands such as Celestial Seasonings teas, Earth’s Best organic baby foods, Rudi’s organic bakery items, Terra vegetable chips and Sensible Portions snacks.