AMI Asset Management Corp Acquires New Stake in Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

AMI Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $513,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Freshpet by 143.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 503 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Freshpet by 55.0% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 555 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Freshpet by 445.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 529 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Freshpet by 1,388.2% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 506 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Freshpet in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000.

Freshpet Stock Up 5.3%

FRPT stock opened at $68.25 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.54, a quick ratio of 4.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Freshpet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.76 and a 1 year high of $89.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.03. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56 and a beta of 1.78.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.21. Freshpet had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $285.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. Freshpet’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on FRPT. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $90.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Freshpet from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $80.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.94.

About Freshpet

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.