The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) Short Interest Update

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) saw a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,730,000 shares, a decline of 17.7% from the February 28th total of 5,750,000 shares. Currently, 5.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,640,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Honest Price Performance

Shares of HNST traded down $0.57 on Thursday, reaching $4.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,519,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,063,850. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $482.47 million, a P/E ratio of -110.75 and a beta of 2.45. Honest has a 12-month low of $2.40 and a 12-month high of $8.97.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at Honest

In other news, SVP Jonathan Mayle sold 37,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.87, for a total transaction of $182,532.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 307,740 shares in the company, valued at $1,498,693.80. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen Winchell sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 4.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Honest during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in Honest in the third quarter worth $37,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in Honest during the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Utah Retirement Systems bought a new position in Honest during the fourth quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Honest in the 4th quarter worth about $89,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

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.