Freshpet (FRPT) closed at $53.62 in the latest trading session, marking a -3.34% move from the prior day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.42% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.29%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.29%.
The seller of refrigerated fresh pet food's stock has climbed by 6.22% in the past month, exceeding the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 0.59% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.2%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Freshpet in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.21, down 36.36% from the prior-year quarter. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $292.7 million, indicating a 10.58% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $1.76 per share and a revenue of $1.21 billion, indicating changes of -33.33% and +9.52%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Freshpet. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Currently, Freshpet is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
From a valuation perspective, Freshpet is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 31.61. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 13.02, so one might conclude that Freshpet is trading at a premium comparatively.
The Food - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 200, this industry ranks in the bottom 19% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
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Freshpet, Inc. (FRPT): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).