Short Interest in The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) Declines By 17.7%

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of 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. Based on an average daily volume of 2,640,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 5.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Honest Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ HNST traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $4.79. 867,573 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,048,152. The firm has a market cap of $521.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -119.88 and a beta of 2.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.58. Honest has a 52-week low of $2.40 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $99.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.46 million. Honest had a negative return on equity of 3.26% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Honest will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Honest

In other news, SVP Jonathan Mayle sold 37,481 shares of Honest stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 307,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,498,693.80. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen Winchell sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Honest during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $103,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Honest by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 225,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 7,379 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its position in shares of Honest by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 80,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,330 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Honest by 12.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 219,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 24,900 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Honest by 74.8% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 37,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 15,930 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

About Honest

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.