TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Acquires 37,524 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 179,324 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 37,524 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC owned 0.37% of Freshpet worth $12,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in Freshpet by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 16,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC boosted its holdings in Freshpet by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 2,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Freshpet by 7.1% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC grew its position in Freshpet by 7.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 3,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Freshpet by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 18,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on FRPT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Freshpet from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $100.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research downgraded Freshpet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (down from $120.00) on shares of Freshpet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Freshpet from $90.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.43.

Freshpet Trading Down 0.6%

Freshpet stock opened at $55.67 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 5.52, a quick ratio of 4.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.76. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.76 and a 12 month high of $164.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.27.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $1.43. The business had revenue of $288.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.73 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 11.44%.Freshpet’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freshpet news, Director Jacki Sue Kelley acquired 814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director directly owned 11,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $672,745.50. The trade was a 7.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Walter N. George bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $52.57 per share, with a total value of $52,570.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 46,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,445,924.39. The trade was a 2.20% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired 6,008 shares of company stock valued at $332,305 over the last three months. Insiders own 4.43% of the company’s stock.

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.