In the latest trading session, Freshpet (FRPT) closed at $51.29, marking a -4.4% move from the previous day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.53%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.52%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.52%.
Shares of the seller of refrigerated fresh pet food have appreciated by 2.94% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 1.68%, and the S&P 500's gain of 0.71%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Freshpet in its forthcoming earnings report. On that day, Freshpet is projected to report earnings of $0.43 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 79.17%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $284.53 million, up 12.3% from the year-ago period.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $1.25 per share and a revenue of $1.11 billion, signifying shifts of +62.34% and +13.59%, respectively, from the last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Freshpet should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. 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, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 4.6% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Freshpet currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, Freshpet is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 42.92. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 15.2.
Also, we should mention that FRPT has a PEG ratio of 1.2. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Food - Miscellaneous was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.73 at yesterday's closing price.
The Food - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 193, putting it in the bottom 22% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. 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 ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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