Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Raised to “Outperform” at Oppenheimer

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 23.95% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Freshpet from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Freshpet from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Freshpet from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $71.00 to $90.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Freshpet from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freshpet currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.69.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Shares of FRPT stock opened at $64.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 25.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 5.54, a quick ratio of 4.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $72.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.02. Freshpet has a 12 month low of $46.76 and a 12 month high of $89.80.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.21. Freshpet had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 12.63%.The firm had revenue of $285.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $285.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Freshpet will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Freshpet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRPT. JANA Partners Management LP lifted its holdings in Freshpet by 4.1% during the third quarter. JANA Partners Management LP now owns 1,048,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,763,000 after purchasing an additional 41,373 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 75,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,110,000 after buying an additional 12,764 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new position in Freshpet in the 3rd quarter worth $6,354,000. Western Standard LLC purchased a new stake in Freshpet in the 3rd quarter worth $3,527,000. Finally, Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna purchased a new stake in Freshpet in the 2nd quarter worth $1,257,000.

Freshpet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Freshpet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer upgraded Freshpet from Market Perform to Outperform with an $80 price target, calling the pullback a compelling entry point and citing brand strength and acquisition appeal — this upgrade is supporting bullish investor sentiment. Oppenheimer upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary repeated across outlets (TipRanks/Benzinga summaries) frames the recent pullback as a buying opportunity, reinforcing the upgrade and likely contributing to buying interest. TipRanks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage consensus remains mixed/neutral — the Street average rating is around “Hold” (roughly equal Buy and Hold counts), which tempers upside despite individual upgrades. Consensus Hold
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data reported for March appears anomalous (shows 0 shares / NaN increase). Given this likely data error, there’s no clear short-squeeze signal from the reported figures. (Source: market data entry)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms have announced investigations into Freshpet (Kessler Topaz; Pomerantz), citing potential securities-law violations and investor losses — these actions increase legal and reputational risk and could pressure the stock if they lead to formal litigation or adverse findings. Kessler Topaz alert
• Negative Sentiment: Additional investor-alert filings (Pomerantz) and press reports note a Fast-Track challenge alleging Freshpet’s advertising was misleading — if regulators or courts side against Freshpet, the company could face fines, required marketing changes, or class-action exposure. Pomerantz alert

Freshpet Company Profile

Freshpet Inc (NASDAQ: FRPT) is a leading pet food company specializing in fresh, refrigerated meals and treats for dogs and cats. The company’s products are formulated with carefully selected, natural ingredients and are designed to offer a higher level of nutrition and freshness than traditional dry or canned pet foods. Freshpet’s offerings include refrigerated rolls, pâtés and snacks, all of which are sold through the refrigerated section of grocery, mass-market and pet specialty stores.

Freshpet’s product portfolio is built around the concept of fresh, minimally processed recipes that do not require preservatives or artificial colors.