Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Cuts Stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 92,657 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,056 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $13,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Freshpet in the fourth quarter worth $817,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 107,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,945,000 after buying an additional 28,743 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 4.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 835,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,650,000 after buying an additional 37,287 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 198.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 381,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,065,000 after buying an additional 253,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 135,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,088,000 after buying an additional 2,291 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FRPT. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down from $170.00) on shares of Freshpet in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freshpet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.67.

Freshpet Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Freshpet stock opened at $87.84 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.57. The company has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.45 and a beta of 1.58. Freshpet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.27 and a fifty-two week high of $164.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a current ratio of 4.72.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. The business had revenue of $262.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.46 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 3.92%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freshpet Profile

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.