Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Receives Underweight Rating from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated their underweight rating on shares of Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on Honest from $6.00 to $3.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Zacks Research cut Honest from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Honest in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings cut Honest from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Honest from $4.25 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Honest has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $3.00.

Honest Price Performance

Shares of Honest stock opened at $2.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $278.36 million, a PE ratio of 41.50 and a beta of 2.30. Honest has a 1 year low of $2.31 and a 1 year high of $6.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $2.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.56.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $92.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.43 million. Honest had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 3.86%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Honest will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Honest news, insider Stephen Winchell sold 10,595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total transaction of $27,547.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 399,662 shares in the company, valued at $1,039,121.20. This represents a 2.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Carla Vernon sold 97,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.60, for a total value of $253,513.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,901,488 shares in the company, valued at $7,543,868.80. This trade represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 8.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Honest

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HNST. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Honest by 1,392.2% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 7,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 6,599 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in Honest during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Equity Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Honest during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Honest in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC purchased a new position in shares of Honest during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 45.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.