Freshpet (FRPT) closed at $83.78 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.49% move from the prior day. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.76%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.14%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.18%.

Shares of the seller of refrigerated fresh pet food witnessed a loss of 34.75% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Consumer Staples sector with its gain of 7% and the S&P 500's loss of 7.29%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Freshpet in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.21, indicating constancy compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $268.6 million, up 19.99% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $1.47 per share and a revenue of $1.19 billion, demonstrating changes of +90.91% and +22.38%, respectively, from the preceding year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Freshpet. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 2.25% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Freshpet presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Freshpet is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 57.99. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 16.84, which means Freshpet is trading at a premium to the group.

The Food - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 177, this industry ranks in the bottom 30% of all industries, numbering over 250.

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.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Freshpet, Inc. (FRPT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research