Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT Position Lifted by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 69.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,946 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL owned about 0.07% of Freshpet worth $1,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Freshpet by 41.0% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,839,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,217 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in Freshpet in the third quarter valued at about $41,862,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Freshpet by 41.5% in the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,568,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,586,000 after buying an additional 753,070 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Freshpet by 278.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 859,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,444,000 after buying an additional 632,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Engaged Capital LLC bought a new position in Freshpet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,076,000.

Freshpet Price Performance

Shares of FRPT opened at $78.04 on Friday. Freshpet, Inc. has a one year low of $46.76 and a one year high of $91.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.84 and its 200-day moving average is $61.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 4.57 and a current ratio of 5.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.66.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on FRPT shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Freshpet from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Freshpet from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Freshpet from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $65.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, TD Cowen set a $60.00 target price on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freshpet has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.47.

Freshpet 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.