Short Interest in The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) Declines By 10.2%

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,150,000 shares, a drop of 10.2% from the March 15th total of 1,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 977,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Honest Trading Down 5.8 %

NASDAQ:HNST opened at $3.25 on Monday. Honest has a 12 month low of $1.06 and a 12 month high of $4.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.66. The firm has a market cap of $315.35 million, a P/E ratio of -7.74 and a beta of 1.82.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 6th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $90.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.54 million. Honest had a negative return on equity of 30.36% and a negative net margin of 11.39%. On average, research analysts forecast that Honest will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HNST. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Honest from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Alliance Global Partners began coverage on Honest in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.75 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Honest from $1.85 to $4.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $4.00 price target on shares of Honest in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Lake Street Capital began coverage on Honest in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Honest has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Carla Vernon sold 209,160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.16, for a total value of $870,105.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,924,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,165,449.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Honest news, General Counsel Brendan Sheehey sold 21,152 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.24, for a total transaction of $68,532.48. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 534,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,732,168.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Carla Vernon sold 209,160 shares of Honest stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.16, for a total value of $870,105.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,924,387 shares in the company, valued at $12,165,449.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 273,301 shares of company stock worth $1,077,922. 26.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Honest

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HNST. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Honest in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC acquired a new position in Honest in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. LPL Financial LLC acquired a new position in Honest in the second quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Honest by 37.4% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 19,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 5,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Honest in the first quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 45.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.