Short Interest in The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) Increases By 21.6%

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,750,000 shares, an increase of 21.6% from the February 13th total of 4,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 6.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HNST. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Honest in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Loop Capital lowered Honest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $7.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Northland Securities upped their price objective on Honest from $7.50 to $9.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Honest has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Stephen Winchell sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.98, for a total transaction of $99,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 431,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,150,583.12. This represents a 4.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jonathan Mayle sold 37,481 shares of Honest stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.87, for a total transaction of $182,532.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 307,740 shares in the company, valued at $1,498,693.80. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Honest

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Honest during the 4th quarter worth approximately $932,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Honest during the 4th quarter worth $352,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Honest during the fourth quarter worth $159,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in shares of Honest by 642.4% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 326,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,259,000 after acquiring an additional 282,098 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Honest by 317.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 200,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,387,000 after acquiring an additional 152,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

Honest Price Performance

NASDAQ HNST traded down $0.14 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.01. 2,435,588 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,011,734. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.52. Honest has a fifty-two week low of $2.40 and a fifty-two week high of $8.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $545.64 million, a P/E ratio of -125.25 and a beta of 2.45.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $99.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.46 million. Honest had a negative net margin of 1.13% and a negative return on equity of 3.26%. On average, analysts forecast that Honest will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

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.