Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Downgraded by Oppenheimer to “Market Perform”

Oppenheimer lowered shares of Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on FRPT. Jefferies Financial Group raised Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Freshpet from $155.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Freshpet from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Freshpet from $170.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Freshpet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.67.

Freshpet Stock Down 0.3 %

FRPT opened at $86.50 on Tuesday. Freshpet has a 1-year low of $80.27 and a 1-year high of $164.07. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.02 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a 50 day moving average of $133.04 and a 200-day moving average of $139.94.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. The business had revenue of $262.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.46 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 4.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freshpet will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Freshpet in the fourth quarter valued at about $817,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Freshpet by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 107,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,945,000 after purchasing an additional 28,743 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Freshpet by 4.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 835,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,650,000 after purchasing an additional 37,287 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its position in Freshpet by 166.2% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 84,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,519,000 after purchasing an additional 52,584 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Freshpet by 198.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 381,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,065,000 after purchasing an additional 253,679 shares during the period.

About Freshpet

Freshpet, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and markets natural fresh meals and treats for dogs and cats in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It sells dog food, cat food, and dog treats under the Freshpet brand name; and Dognation and Dog Joy labels through various classes of retail, including grocery, mass, club, pet specialty, and natural, as well as online.