The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) have earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $3.00.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Honest in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Honest from $4.25 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Lake Street Capital cut shares of Honest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $3.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $3.00 target price on shares of Honest in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Honest from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Honest

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HNST. Mak Capital One LLC purchased a new stake in Honest during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,104,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Honest by 796.2% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,006,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,177,000 after buying an additional 1,782,742 shares in the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Honest by 11.4% during the third quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 6,928,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,495,000 after buying an additional 710,651 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Honest by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,520,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,922,000 after acquiring an additional 627,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Honest by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,014,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,619,000 after acquiring an additional 442,542 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

Honest Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HNST opened at $2.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $319.41 million, a P/E ratio of -20.29 and a beta of 2.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.06. Honest has a 52-week low of $2.07 and a 52-week high of $5.55.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $88.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.57 million. Honest had a negative net margin of 4.22% and a positive return on equity of 4.57%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Honest will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

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.