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

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,000,000 shares, a drop of 11.1% from the October 15th total of 2,250,000 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,620,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Honest

In other Honest news, major shareholder Shared Abacus Lp Thc sold 2,300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $34,544,310.50. This trade represents a 18.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David Loretta sold 75,656 shares of Honest stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.28, for a total transaction of $323,807.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 987,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,227,599.96. This represents a 7.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,461,187 shares of company stock worth $8,739,880. Insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Honest

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Honest by 122.5% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 219,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 120,937 shares during the period. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Honest in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $843,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Honest in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $806,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Honest in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,777,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Honest by 68.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 943,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,755,000 after purchasing an additional 382,418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

Honest Price Performance

HNST stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $7.51. 2,381,199 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,444,990. Honest has a 52 week low of $1.47 and a 52 week high of $7.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HNST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Northland Securities lifted their target price on shares of Honest from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Alliance Global Partners lifted their target price on shares of Honest from $5.75 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Honest from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Honest to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Honest from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.93.

About Honest

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.