In the latest trading session, Freshpet (FRPT) closed at $60.13, marking a -4.62% move from the previous day. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.14%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.24%.
Shares of the seller of refrigerated fresh pet food have appreciated by 10.02% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 0.83%, and the S&P 500's gain of 0.94%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Freshpet in its upcoming release. In that report, analysts expect Freshpet to post earnings of $0.43 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 19.44%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $285.92 million, up 8.83% from the prior-year quarter.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $2.49 per share and a revenue of $1.1 billion, signifying shifts of +223.38% and +13.08%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Freshpet. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.35% lower. Right now, Freshpet possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note Freshpet's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 25.37. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 13.83 of its industry.
We can additionally observe that FRPT currently boasts a PEG ratio of 0.9. 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. As the market closed yesterday, the Food - Miscellaneous industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.96.
The Food - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 201, finds itself in the bottom 19% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Freshpet, Inc. (FRPT): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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