Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Short Interest Update

Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,163,881 shares, a growth of 21.2% from the March 15th total of 5,087,556 shares. Currently, 13.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,242,009 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Freshpet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRPT opened at $69.50 on Friday. Freshpet has a twelve month low of $46.76 and a twelve month high of $89.80. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.36. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $285.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $285.66 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 12.63%.Freshpet’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Freshpet will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freshpet

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,839,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,217 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Freshpet by 1,031.9% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 931,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,905 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Freshpet by 151.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,482,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,716,000 after acquiring an additional 893,949 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in Freshpet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,862,000. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC raised its holdings in Freshpet by 118.4% in the 3rd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,234,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,050,000 after acquiring an additional 669,399 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer upgraded Freshpet from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Freshpet from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Freshpet from $90.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Freshpet from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Freshpet from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.94.

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.