Carla Vernon Sells 129,335 Shares of Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) Stock

The Honest Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNST) CEO Carla Vernon sold 129,335 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total transaction of $368,604.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,065,546 shares in the company, valued at $11,586,806.10. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Honest Stock Performance

HNST opened at $2.90 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $2.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $326.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.71 and a beta of 2.27. The Honest Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2.07 and a fifty-two week high of $5.55.

Honest (NASDAQ:HNST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.23). Honest had a positive return on equity of 4.57% and a negative net margin of 4.22%.The firm had revenue of $88.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.57 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Honest Company, Inc. will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Honest declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 9.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Honest

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amicus Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Honest in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in Honest in the 4th quarter valued at $86,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Honest in the 4th quarter valued at $448,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Honest by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 186,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 58,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in Honest by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 181,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 57,956 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.54% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Honest

Here are the key news stories impacting Honest this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorized a $25.0 million share buyback (up to ~9.9% of outstanding shares), which signals management believes shares may be undervalued and can provide buying support to the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed-to-negative: the consensus on MarketBeat shows a “Reduce”/average target around $3.00 with multiple banks maintaining underweight/sell or market‑perform views; one analyst has a Buy but most are Hold/Sell.
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/context: the shares sit below the 200‑day moving average (~$3.03) but above the 50‑day (~$2.48); the name is small‑cap and relatively volatile (beta ~2.26).
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Carla Vernon sold 129,335 shares at an average price of $2.85 (~$368.6k), trimming her position ~3.08%. SEC filing — Carla Vernon
• Negative Sentiment: Several other insiders reported sales (small percentages of their holdings), including SVP Kunssberg Etienne Von (12,179 shares), General Counsel Brendan Sheehey (22,556), SVP Jonathan Mayle (12,725) and insider Dorria L. Ball (15,099) — all at approximately $2.85 per share. SEC filing — Kunssberg Etienne Von SEC filing — Brendan Sheehey SEC filing — Jonathan Mayle SEC filing — Dorria L. Ball
• Negative Sentiment: Recent quarterly results (Feb. 25) missed on EPS (reported -$0.21 vs. est. ~$0.02) and revenue was marginally below expectations — a near-term operational headwind to sentiment and analyst outlooks.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HNST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $3.00 price objective on Honest in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Honest from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Honest in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Honest from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Honest in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $3.00.

Honest Company Profile

The Honest Company, Inc (NASDAQ: HNST) is an American consumer goods firm specializing in eco-friendly and responsibly formulated products for babies, personal care, beauty and home cleaning. The company emphasizes transparency in ingredient sourcing and product safety, positioning itself in the premium segment of mass-market retail and direct-to-consumer channels.

Honest was founded in 2011 by actress Jessica Alba and environmental health advocate Christopher Gavigan with a mission to offer parents household and baby care items free from harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrances.