Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Stock Gets Downgrade from Northcoast Research

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) was downgraded by research analysts at Northcoast Research from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SFM. Bank of America cut Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $94.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Zacks Research lowered Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $56.00 price target on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.77.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM traded down $2.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $49.10. 4,603,579 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,933,612. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 9.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.76. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 52-week low of $47.35 and a 52-week high of $94.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.33 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.45% and a return on equity of 33.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, Director Joseph O’Leary sold 2,597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.57, for a total value of $214,434.29. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,214,604.70. This trade represents a 15.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 10,788 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.14, for a total value of $584,062.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 269,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,616,717.20. This trade represents a 3.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 46,041 shares of company stock valued at $3,108,047 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 10Elms LLP grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 333.3% during the third quarter. 10Elms LLP now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,988.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 88,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,848,000 after acquiring an additional 83,917 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,614,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 228,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,155,000 after acquiring an additional 62,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 61,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,056,000 after acquiring an additional 6,836 shares in the last quarter.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc (NASDAQ:SFM) is a specialty grocery retailer focused on fresh, natural and organic foods. Its stores offer a broad selection of fresh produce, meat and seafood, dairy products, bulk foods, vitamins and supplements, pantry staples, bakery items, deli products and prepared foods. The company emphasizes products that support healthy eating, including organic, plant-based and specialty-diet options.

Founded in 2002, Sprouts Farmers Market grew from its first store in Chandler, Arizona, into a national grocery chain.