Why Freshpet Was a Dog of a Stock This Week
Onetime investors' pet stock Freshpet (NASDAQ: FRPT) wasn't such a good boy over the past few days. On the back of a recommendation downgrade from one analyst and price target cuts from two others, investors sold out of the stock in recent trading sessions. That left it with a nearly 11% decline in price week-to-date as of Thursday evening, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.Of the three events, the most consequential was the downgrade. This occurred on Tuesday when Oppenheimer's Rupesh Parikh moved his Freshpet recommendation down one peg to perform (hold, in other words) from his former outperform (buy). In doing so, Parikh removed his $140 per share price target; it has not yet been replaced. According to reports, the analyst's new take on Freshpet is based on his observation that management has sounded more subdued about the company's prospects. He also characterized the company's latest guidance as "disappointing" and wrote that investors would be wise to wait for signs of top-line improvements.Continue reading
Onetime investors' pet stock Freshpet (NASDAQ: FRPT) wasn't such a good boy over the past few days. On the back of a recommendation downgrade from one analyst and price target cuts from two others, investors sold out of the stock in recent trading sessions. That left it with a nearly 11% decline in price week-to-date as of Thursday evening, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Of the three events, the most consequential was the downgrade. This occurred on Tuesday when Oppenheimer's Rupesh Parikh moved his Freshpet recommendation down one peg to perform (hold, in other words) from his former outperform (buy). In doing so, Parikh removed his $140 per share price target; it has not yet been replaced.
According to reports, the analyst's new take on Freshpet is based on his observation that management has sounded more subdued about the company's prospects. He also characterized the company's latest guidance as "disappointing" and wrote that investors would be wise to wait for signs of top-line improvements.
