Freshpet (FRPT) ended the recent trading session at $52.47, demonstrating a -4.29% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.47%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.11%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.94%.
The stock of seller of refrigerated fresh pet food has fallen by 10.48% in the past month, lagging the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 1.75% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.32%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Freshpet in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect Freshpet to post earnings of $0.44 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 83.33%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $285.88 million, up 12.83% from the prior-year quarter.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $1.31 per share and revenue of $1.11 billion, indicating changes of +70.13% and +13.86%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Freshpet. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged. Freshpet is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
In the context of valuation, Freshpet is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 41.84. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 16.09.
We can additionally observe that FRPT currently boasts a PEG ratio of 0.97. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The average PEG ratio for the Food – Miscellaneous industry stood at 1.83 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Food – Miscellaneous industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 163, this industry ranks in the bottom 35% of all industries, numbering over 250.
