The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,170,000 shares, a decrease of 10.7% from the August 31st total of 2,430,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,530,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Shared Abacus Lp Thc sold 2,300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.50, for a total value of $8,050,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,869,803 shares in the company, valued at $34,544,310.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $3.50, for a total value of $8,050,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,869,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,544,310.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Carla Vernon sold 52,751 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.28, for a total transaction of $225,774.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,828,319 shares in the company, valued at $12,105,205.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,531,187 shares of company stock valued at $9,018,480 over the last 90 days. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Honest

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HNST. Green Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in Honest by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 415,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,681,000 after buying an additional 5,249 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Honest in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in Honest by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 137,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in Honest by 24.4% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 63,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 12,437 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Honest in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

Honest Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of HNST traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $3.49. 607,813 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,120,818. Honest has a twelve month low of $1.06 and a twelve month high of $4.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.42. The stock has a market cap of $344.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.17 and a beta of 1.90.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04). The company had revenue of $93.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.63 million. Honest had a negative return on equity of 10.00% and a negative net margin of 3.50%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.14) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Honest will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HNST. B. Riley began coverage on Honest in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.50 target price on the stock. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Honest to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Northland Securities assumed coverage on Honest in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Honest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $3.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Honest currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.04.

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.