Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after B. Riley raised their price target on the stock from $6.50 to $7.00. The stock had previously closed at $6.01, but opened at $6.76. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. Honest shares last traded at $6.66, with a volume of 1,573,127 shares traded.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on HNST. Northland Securities upped their price target on Honest from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Honest from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Northland Capmk raised Honest to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Alliance Global Partners upped their price target on Honest from $5.75 to $8.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Honest presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Honest news, major shareholder Shared Abacus Lp Thc sold 2,300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.50, for a total value of $8,050,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,869,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,544,310.50. This represents a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Carla Vernon sold 52,751 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.28, for a total value of $225,774.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,828,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,105,205.32. This trade represents a 1.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,461,187 shares of company stock valued at $8,739,880 in the last three months. Insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Honest

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HNST. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Honest by 122.5% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 219,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 120,937 shares during the period. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Honest during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $843,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in Honest during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $806,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Honest during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,777,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Honest by 68.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 943,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,755,000 after purchasing an additional 382,418 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

Honest Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.52. The stock has a market cap of $697.64 million, a P/E ratio of -172.75 and a beta of 1.85.

Honest Company Profile

The Honest Company, Inc manufactures and sells diapers and wipes, skin and personal care, and household and wellness products. The company also offers baby clothing and nursery bedding products. It sells its products through digital and retail sales channels, such as its website and third-party ecommerce sites, as well as brick and mortar retailers.