Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Stock

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $6.50 to $11.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 32.59% from the company’s previous close.

SG has been the subject of a number of other reports. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $7.00 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Sweetgreen from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $6.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp upgraded Sweetgreen from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $9.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Sweetgreen from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Sweetgreen from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sweetgreen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.83.

Sweetgreen Stock Up 0.7%

Sweetgreen stock opened at $8.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $987.56 million, a PE ratio of 82.97 and a beta of 2.20. Sweetgreen has a 52 week low of $4.49 and a 52 week high of $10.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.07.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $192.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.50 million. Sweetgreen had a net margin of 2.01% and a negative return on equity of 32.94%. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.20) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Sweetgreen will post -1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sweetgreen news, COO Jason Miles Cochran sold 4,809 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.21, for a total value of $29,863.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 207,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,285,941.96. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Jamie McConnell sold 15,033 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.21, for a total transaction of $93,354.93. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 210,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,307,136.69. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 18.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sweetgreen

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Sweetgreen in the second quarter valued at $2,792,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in Sweetgreen by 495.3% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 193,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 161,209 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Sweetgreen during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,557,000. Ibex Investors LLC grew its stake in Sweetgreen by 5,058.7% during the fourth quarter. Ibex Investors LLC now owns 825,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,580,000 after buying an additional 809,400 shares during the period. Finally, Granahan Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sweetgreen in the 1st quarter valued at $1,472,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.75% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Sweetgreen

Here are the key news stories impacting Sweetgreen this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded Sweetgreen to Overweight from Equal Weight, citing improving operational execution and a more favorable post-Cyclospora setup. The change in recommendation provided the primary catalyst for the shares’ recovery. Wells Fargo upgrades Sweetgreen to overweight from equal-weight
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple market reports said Sweetgreen has erased the decline associated with the Cyclospora outbreak. Investors appear to be looking past the near-term food-safety concerns and focusing on normalized operations and the potential for improved customer traffic and sales. Sweetgreen shares erase Cyclospora slump as Wells Fargo upgrades
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate head-to-head analysis compared Sweetgreen with Expedia Group, likely addressing relative financial and valuation metrics. It does not represent a new company announcement or a change to Sweetgreen’s operating outlook, so its direct effect on the stock is limited. Sweetgreen versus Expedia Group head-to-head analysis

About Sweetgreen

Sweetgreen, Inc operates a fast-casual restaurant chain focused on fresh, plant-forward meals. Its menu includes salads, grain bowls, warm bowls, sides, beverages and seasonal offerings prepared with a focus on whole ingredients and customizable combinations.

The company serves customers through company-operated restaurants and digital channels, including its website and mobile application for ordering, pickup and delivery. Sweetgreen has also developed automated restaurant technology, including its Infinite Kitchen platform, which is designed to support food preparation and restaurant operations.

Sweetgreen was founded in 2007 in Washington, DC, by Jonathan Neman, Nicolas Jammet and Nathaniel Ru.