Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $3.00 target price on shares of Honest in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Honest in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $3.00 price objective on Honest in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Honest in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Honest from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.00.

Honest Stock Up 0.3%

HNST opened at $2.93 on Friday. Honest has a twelve month low of $2.07 and a twelve month high of $5.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $2.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.05. The company has a market cap of $329.54 million, a PE ratio of -20.93 and a beta of 2.27.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.23). Honest had a negative net margin of 4.22% and a positive return on equity of 4.57%. The company had revenue of $88.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.57 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Honest will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Honest declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 9.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Honest

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HNST. Amicus Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Honest in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in Honest in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Honest in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $448,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Honest by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 186,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 58,784 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Honest by 47.1% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 181,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 57,956 shares in the last quarter. 45.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.