AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Takes Position in Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 444,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,225,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the first quarter valued at $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Freshpet by 1,585.0% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 674 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Freshpet by 100.7% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 833 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Freshpet by 283.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Walter N. George bought 1,000 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $52.57 per share, for a total transaction of $52,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 46,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,445,924.39. This trade represents a 2.20% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jacki Sue Kelley bought 814 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $56.50 per share, with a total value of $45,991.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 11,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $672,745.50. This represents a 7.34% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 6,008 shares of company stock worth $332,305. 4.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Shares of Freshpet stock opened at $55.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 83.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 3.75 and a current ratio of 4.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.13. Freshpet, Inc. has a one year low of $46.76 and a one year high of $164.07.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $264.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $269.75 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 4.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.03) earnings per share. Freshpet has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FRPT. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $90.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Freshpet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Freshpet from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.13.

About Freshpet

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.